Brazil has 546 thousand doctors, 2.56 for every thousand citizens

As it stands today, Brazil has 546 thousand active doctors—2.56 for every thousand people. The number more than doubled in the last 20 years, as per official records. In the view of federal medical council CFM, the accelerated growth in the amount of medical schools and slots opened in the last decade has led to an unprecedented surge in the number of medics in the country.

“If this rate holds steady for the population as well as for medical schools, the country should have 3.63 doctors for every thousand citizens in five years—thus above the average medical density in the 38 OECD countries,” the council stated.

Since 2010, the Brazilian population has gone from 190.7 million to 214 million, while the ratio of doctors for every thousand people has risen from 1.76 to 2.56, CFM reported. In the same period, more than 200 medical schools opened their doors. Each year, about 28 thousand doctors join the market. Studies estimate that, with doctors’ typically long professional life span—about 43 years—the nation should near 837 thousand medics in five years.

Profile

Data disclosed this week by the council show that men represent 51 percent of the active contingent (277.8 thousand professionals) and women 49 percent (267.7 thousand). The evolution in the indicators reveals that, in a few years, women are likely make up the majority. In 1990, they accounted for a mere 30 percent of the medical work force, and climbed to 39.9 percent in 2010. Now they add up to almost half of the total.

The figures also indicate that the overall average age of active doctors in Brazil has been on the wane in recent years. In 2015, the average was 45.7 years; now, it stands at 44.9. The phenomenon comes as a result of the leap in the number of medical courses and openings—and consequently the entry of new doctors into the labor market.

Distribution

In absolute terms, the country has enough active, registered physicians to meet the needs of the population, the federal council argued. However, despite the world’s largest contingent, the landscape is still haunted by the unequal distribution of care providers, as well as in the access to them.

The data show that most doctors are concentrated in the South and Southeast, in the capitals and in the large cities. The 49 Brazilian cities with over 500 thousand inhabitants—which together concentrate 32 percent of the Brazilian population—have 62 percent of the doctors in the country. In the 4,890 cities with at least 50 thousand—home to 65.8 million people—there are a little more than eight percent of the professionals.

Despite accounting for 24 percent of the country’s population, the 27 Brazilian capitals hold 54 percent of the physicians. On the other hand, 76 percent of the population and 46 percent of the active doctors in the country live elsewhere. The numbers also show that the capital cities have an average of 6.21 doctors for every one thousand citizens, compared to a rate of 1.72 elsewhere.

Quality

Council head José Hiran Gallo said Brazil has a large number of medical schools “without the slightest condition to function.” He cited the northern state of Rondônia, with its eight medical schools, each graduating between 100 and 150 professionals each year. “It is an alarming number of medical schools in Brazil,” he said, mentioning institutions without designated teaching hospitals. “It is very difficult for these doctors to get a solid education.”

“There’s no point in bringing well-trained doctors to these 5.55 thousand municipalities in Brazil without infrastructure, beds, equipment, medication, access to exams, and support from a multiprofessional team,” he pointed out. “The council does not accept a medicine for the rich and another one for the poor,” he added.

Donizetti Giamberardino, in charge of the council’s accreditation system, advocates the creation of policies aimed at helping health professionals establish themselves in underserved cities. “Documents have shown that, even when we train more doctors every year, distribution has remained unequal. We have more doctors in the capitals and a large amount of municipalities with a low supply.”