• Submitted by: Camila
• Health and Medicine
• 11 / 07 / 2014

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The work of Cuban doctors in Brazil has been excellent, which is why the government of Dilma Rousseff wants to increase the number of contracts next year. Cesario Melantonio Neto, Brazilian ambassador to Cuba, said in FIHAV that would consult with the Cuban authorities availability, mostly of specialists.

According to the diplomat in his country more than 11,800 Cuban general doctors are working and there is a high satisfaction among Brazilians who receive primary care as part of the More Doctors program, created in 2013.

A recent survey indicated that 88% of them rated the care received as excellent or very good, when earlier this year the percentage was 63, he added.

The way doctors have been hired has received strong criticism from health professionals and Brazilian opponents. This week, prosecutors in the South American country lambasted the government of Rousseff and demanded pay directly to doctors and not to Havana as now.

Through the Pan American Health Organization, Brasilia pays Cuban government over $ 4,100 per physician. But professionals receive only a quarter of that; the government gets the rest. 

Prosecutors felt that the situation is downright illegal and violates the code of the World Health Organization governing international professional’s recruitment.