Brazil hires thousands of Cuban doctors

(AP) Brazil says will import thousands of Cuban doctors to work in areas where medical services and doctors are scarce, and Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota defended the plan Thursday as a way to give "the best possible medical services for the Brazilian population."

The Health Ministry said in a statement posted on its website that it signed an agreement with the Pan-American Health Organization to hire 4,000 Cuban doctors, who are expected to arrive in Latin America's biggest country by the end of the year. The first 400 are scheduled to arrive within the next few days.

The government is bringing in Cuban doctors after failing to attract enough Brazilian and foreign physicians to its "More Doctors" program meant to send professionals to work in needy urban and rural areas for three years.

The government created the program following the massive street demonstrations where protesters demanded better public services.

The ministry said that 3,500 cities and towns across Brazil are taking part in the program and have requested 15,000 doctors. So far 1,300 have signed up. Of that total 1,000 are Brazilian and 300 are either Brazilian who studied overseas or foreign doctors, mainly from Argentina, Spain and Portugal.

Foreign doctors in the program will receive a monthly salary of 10,000 reals ($4,080). In the case of the Cubans, the government will send their wages to Cuba through the Pan-American Health Organization. Cuba will then decide how much each doctor will receive.

The foreign doctors will have to first spend three weeks studying Brazil's public health system and the Portuguese language, the ministry said.

Many local doctors have objected to the plan, however. The Federal Medical Council that oversees the licensing of all Brazilian doctors said in a statement that hiring of Cuban doctors who cannot speak Portuguese and whose diplomas have not been revalidated locally violates Brazilian laws and human rights by endangering the lives of Brazilians in poor and remote regions.

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