Shortage of doctors to serve in far flung rural areas is a problem prevalent in most countries across the world. Brazil is no different, except that the government has come up with a unique solution to bring in thousands of doctors from Cuba even though Brazilian doctors are on the warpath over this government initiative.
Of the 4000 Cuban doctors that Brazil plans to engage by the end of the year to serve in difficult areas, the first batch of over 200 doctors arrived in face of great hostili ty from local doctors' associations.
Following recent street demonstrations across Brazil demanding better public services including healthcare, the government launched the 'Mais Medicos' or 'More Doctors' program meant to get doctors to underserved and needy urban and rural areas, mainly in Brazil's north and northeastern region, for three years.
According to Brazil's health ministry, 3,500 cities and towns across Brazil are taking part in the 'More Doctors' program and they have asked for 15,000 doctors. However, only 1,300 signed up, about 1,000 Brazilian doctors and 300 who are either Brazilians who studied medicine abroad or doctors from Argentina, Spain and Portugal. Brazil has a shortage of 54,000 doctors with just 8 per cent of Brazilian doctors working in smaller cities of 50,000 people or less which represent 90 per cent of the country's municipalities, showing the poor distribution of physicians.
However, the Federal Medical Council, which regulates licensing of Brazilian doctors, has protested stating that the hiring of Cuban doctors who could not speak Portuguese and whose qualifications were not revalidated locally would only endanger the lives of the poor in remote regions. Government officials and even President Dilma Rousseff dismissed the protests of Brazilians doctors calling them elitists who only worked in big cities like Rio de Janeiro where they could earn big bucks in high-tech glitzy hospitals.
The doctors associations had earlier also rejected the government proposal to make medical students work in poor areas as part of their residency program which could have helped alleviate the shortage to some extent.
Of the 4000 Cuban doctors that Brazil plans to engage by the end of the year to serve in difficult areas, the first batch of over 200 doctors arrived in face of great hostili ty from local doctors' associations.
Following recent street demonstrations across Brazil demanding better public services including healthcare, the government launched the 'Mais Medicos' or 'More Doctors' program meant to get doctors to underserved and needy urban and rural areas, mainly in Brazil's north and northeastern region, for three years.
According to Brazil's health ministry, 3,500 cities and towns across Brazil are taking part in the 'More Doctors' program and they have asked for 15,000 doctors. However, only 1,300 signed up, about 1,000 Brazilian doctors and 300 who are either Brazilians who studied medicine abroad or doctors from Argentina, Spain and Portugal. Brazil has a shortage of 54,000 doctors with just 8 per cent of Brazilian doctors working in smaller cities of 50,000 people or less which represent 90 per cent of the country's municipalities, showing the poor distribution of physicians.
However, the Federal Medical Council, which regulates licensing of Brazilian doctors, has protested stating that the hiring of Cuban doctors who could not speak Portuguese and whose qualifications were not revalidated locally would only endanger the lives of the poor in remote regions. Government officials and even President Dilma Rousseff dismissed the protests of Brazilians doctors calling them elitists who only worked in big cities like Rio de Janeiro where they could earn big bucks in high-tech glitzy hospitals.
The doctors associations had earlier also rejected the government proposal to make medical students work in poor areas as part of their residency program which could have helped alleviate the shortage to some extent.