New wave of Cuban doctors arrives under Brazil's More Doctors Program

Criado em 04/11/13 12h04 e atualizado em 04/11/13 12h14
Por Yara Aquino Fonte:Agência Brasil

Brasília – A new wave of 3,000 Cuban doctors hired under Brazil's More Doctors Program arrives in Brazil as of this Monday (Nov. 4). They are due to begin work in December, after an onboarding period during which the doctors will be assessed.

The Cubans are participating in the program through a cooperation agreement signed between Brazil's Ministry of Health and the Pan American Health Organization in August 2013.

Also on Monday, 2,100 health care professionals holding foreign diplomas who enrolled in the More Doctors Program begin providing care in basic care centers after passing their onboarding phase in the states where they registered to work. They were assessed during three weeks by federal university professors and tested in their Portuguese language skills, as well as in basic care protocols of the Unified Health System (SUS), Brazil's public health care system.

The doctors who start practicing this Monday will add to a workforce of 1,500 doctors from the first stage of the program that are working in remote, underserved locations throughout Brazil, reports the Ministry of Health.

Practitioners were granted temporary licenses issued by the Ministry of Health. Licensure responsibilities would at first lie with the Federal Medical Board (CFM), but after controversies with medical associations and delays in granting the licenses, the Congress decided to reassign the task to the government, leaving the board with a more supervisory role.

“By handing licensing duties over to the Ministry of Health, we have effectively tackled controversies and enabled graduates, as soon as they complete their studies and are found to be qualified, to begin providing care to the Brazilian population and ensure continued operation of the More Doctors Program,” the Health Ministry Secretary for Healthcare Work and Education Management, Mozart Sales, told EBC last Friday (Nov. 1st).

Launched by the government on July 8 this year, the More Doctors Program was designed to increase the number of doctors in impoverished and remote Brazilian areas with shortage of health care workers. Program participants are paid grants of about $4,400 a month by the federal government, whereas local governments are responsible for covering meals and housing costs. Brazilian doctors are given priority, and the remaining openings are offered to foreign practitioners.

According to Secretary Sales, registration will reopen in December for Brazilian practitioners only. The Ministry of Health estimates that the More Doctors Program will close out 2013 with over 6,600 hires.

Edited by Graça Adjuto / Nira Foster
Translated by Mayra Borges