Brazil invites medics to More Doctors program

A new tender for Brazil’s More Doctor program has been called, with 8,517 job posts previously occupied by Cuban doctors in 1,824 municipalities and 34 indigenous areas.

At first, positions are offered to doctors graduated and registered in Brazil. Should they not be filled, a new tender is to be invited on December 27 for Brazilians holding a degree from universities overseas and foreigners, even if they are not registered in Brazil and did not have their diplomas re-validated.

The call for new doctors was ruled by the federal government as an effort to ensure care where Cuban medics were working. Cuba’s Public Health Ministry through the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) announced its departure from the More Doctors cooperation deal on November 14. Cuba argues the demands made by the Brazilian government are “unacceptable” and “violate” previous agreements.

On his Twitter account, President-Elect Jair Bolsonaro said Cubans doctors could stay as long as they took the diploma re-validation exam, known as Revalida, designed for doctors who went to a university outside the country and intend to practice in Brazil.

Further demands include full pay for Cubans, with no portion of their salary transferred to the Cuban government, and the permission for them to bring their family to the country. “Sadly, Cuba did not accept it,” Bolsonaro said.

The first group of health agents selected is expected to start working on December 3.

According to official figures, 18,240 doctors are active across 4,058 municipalities and 34 indigenous districts as part of the initiative today.