More Doctors Program: 938 applicants signed working papers

Criado em 07/08/13 11h23 e atualizado em 07/08/13 15h37
Por Aline Leal Edição:Fábio Massalli/ Nira Foster Fonte:Agência Brasil

Brasília – Only 938 out of the 16,530 doctors who pre-enrolled for the More Doctors Program introduced by the Brazilian government accepted positions offered to them. The number of confirmations meets 6% of the demand for 15,460 doctors. The doctors are going to work in poor, underserved areas across 404 municipalities.

As he announced the figures, Health Minister Alexandre Padilha hinted at potential partnerships with other countries and universities abroad. “Once the Ministry of Health has mapped where doctors are being placed and which regions are more in need, it will be easier to pursue partnerships with countries and universities abroad,” the minister said. At the moment, doctors who completed their studies in foreign universities are only accepted as individual applicants.

Out of the 404 municipalities where doctors have already been placed, 213 are located in areas where 20% of the population lives in extreme poverty, 111 are in metropolitan areas, and 24 are capital cities. The program has also already fulfilled openings in 16 indigenous health districts. Over 2,000 municipalities haven't attracted applications (of which 782 are in top priority areas). The hired doctors start work in September.

All 1,920 enrolled doctors who hold foreign diplomas must complete their applications by Thursday (August 8). On August 15, a new applications phase will open to register new towns and doctors.

As an attempt to increase engagements, the Ministry of Health has extended the deadline for enrolled applicants to validate and choose their preferred location until Thursday (August 8) midnight for those who completed their studies in Brazil. According to the president of the National Mayors' Front, José Fortunati, the low number of applicants who signed with the program can be put down to a fraud in the enrollment process. “Over 14,000 doctors have submitted fraudulent applications,” he said, “Most of them are motivated by interests of medical trade organizations,” he completed.

The ministry received reports that groups were planning a boycott to the program, and called on the Federal Police to investigate. Over 6,000 applicants left their professional license numbers blank, while another 171 filled the spaces with zeroes or dashes and many used invalid numbers.

Introduced on July 8, the More Doctors Program was designed to hire doctors to provide basic health care in impoverished areas in Brazil for three years, with a preference for doctors who graduated in Brazil. The policy has met with strong criticism by medical associations, as applicants who hold foreign diplomas are not required to revalidate them in Brazil in order to participate.

Edition: Fábio Massalli/ Nira Foster
Translation: Mayra Borges