Brazil to lure foreigners to fill public health posts

[Judi Lynn]

Brazil to lure foreigners to fill public health posts
Tuesday, 09 July 2013 10:06
Posted by Shoaib-ur-Rehman Siddiqui

BRASILIA: Brazil launched a program Monday to lure thousands of foreign doctors to fill vacancies in its public health system, a move criticized by many domestic health care professionals.
Improving public health services was one of the key demands made by hundreds of thousands of Brazilians who staged three weeks of nationwide street protests last month.

~snip~
The government said the three-year posts, with a monthly pay of $4,500, would be filled mainly by Brazilian doctors, but foreign counterparts would also be used to fill the gap.
Those selected will begin working in mid-September, mainly in the country's hinterland and poor suburbs of major cities.

"Every Brazilian must have access to a doctor," Rousseff said. "Brazil is short of doctors. If we don't have enough in Brazil, we will look for good doctors wherever they are."

Foreign applicants must come from countries where there are more than 1.8 doctors per 1,000 inhabitants, such as Spain, Portugal, Argentina or Cuba.

More:
http://www.brecorder.com/world/south-america/126968.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. We were first informed of this idea earlier by DU poster ocpagu.

Posted last Friday, this particular thread refers to the right-wing backlash to a practical, and intelligent solution to a big problem, which has already been implemented by other countries:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/110819986

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If the right-wing Brazilian doctors had intended to help the poor, it would have already been solved, dealt with, and this problem would not exist now.

This is exactly the right step to take. It's just not the right-wing step to take, since apparently to them, the only people worth treating are well situated enough already to afford their own medical expenses.

[Bacchus4.0]

2. I would think Cuban doctors would be lining up en masse for that salary

something tells me for any Cuban doctors there is a catch.

[Judi Lynn]

3. First direct Brazil flight to take off in July

First direct Brazil flight to take off in July

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CUBA STANDARD — Flag carrier Cubana de Aviación is resuming direct flights to Brazil with a Havana-São Paulo route on July 10, the tourism ministry said in a press release.

The once-a-week flight, on a 262-passenger IL 96-300, leaves on Wednesdays and returns on Thursdays.

No Brazilian airline is offering nonstop flights to Cuba. Brazilian visits have risen modestly over the past decade, to 16,000 in 2012. Also, Brazilian business activities in Cuba have intensified over the past years, producing an increase in business travel from Brazil to Cuba.[font size=3] Finally, as the government of Brazil is negotiating to contract 6,000 Cuban doctors, travel from Cuba to Brazil may be rising as early as this year.[/font]

Cubana is marketing its Brazil flights via Cuban tour operators, the Brazilian embassy in Havana, the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (APEX), and the Brazilian Association of Tourism Operators (Braztoa).

“The more than 16,000 Brazilians that visited us in 2012 constitute a number far removed from the potential that country represents,” wrote the Cuban tourism ministry in a press release. “Without giving up sun and beaches, our destination will show Brazilian visitors its security, culture and history, and the rich nature we have.”
http://www.cubastandard.com/2013/06/29/first-direct-brazil-flight-to-take-off-in-july/

(Short article, no more at link.)