Dilma: "It's a huge prejudice against Cubans"

The president, in an interview with radio stations in Minas Gerais, points out that "it's important to say that foreign doctors, not just Cubans, come to Brazil to work where Brazilian doctors trained here don't want to work"; the Deputy Secretary of Labor Management says that the remuneration of Cuban doctors will be between R$ 2,5 and R$ 4, paid by the Cuban government after a transfer from Brazil to the Pan American Health Organization and, from there, to Cuba; the National Federation of Doctors (Fenam) has requested the Attorney General's Office for Labor to investigate the employment relationship of the professionals who will work for the Mais Médicos program.

August 28, 2013, 13:54 PMUpdated July 10, 2018, 19:00 pm

The president, in an interview with radio stations in Minas Gerais, points out that "it's important to say that foreign doctors, not just Cubans, come to Brazil to work where Brazilian doctors trained here don't want to work"; the Deputy Secretary of Labor Management says that the remuneration of Cuban doctors will be between R$ 2,5 and R$ 4, paid by the Cuban government after a transfer from Brazil to the Pan American Health Organization and, from there, to Cuba; the National Federation of Doctors (Fenam) has requested the Attorney General's Office to investigate the employment relationship of the professionals who will work for the Mais Médicos program. (Photo: Marco Damiani)

Renata Giraldi and Danilo Macedo
Reporters from Agência Brasil

Brasilia - President Dilma Rousseff criticized today (28) those who are prejudiced against the presence of Cuban doctors in Brazil. In an interview with radio stations in Minas Gerais, she stressed that there are also doctors from other countries besides Cuba. The president reiterated that the foreigners are in Brazil to perform the work that Brazilian doctors do not want to do.

"There is immense prejudice being expressed against Cubans. It's important to say that foreign doctors, not just Cubans, come to Brazil to work where Brazilian doctors trained here don't want to work," she said.

Yesterday (27), the National Federation of Doctors (Fenam) requested the Attorney General's Office for Labor to investigate the working conditions of professionals who will work for Mais Médicos. The entity alleges that the fact that doctors do not revalidate their diplomas will cause restrictions on movement, which, according to the entity, is one of the characteristics of slave labor.

According to government rules, all professionals in the Mais Médicos program will receive a "training grant" for their service in underserved regions. There will be no employment contract. The Ministry of Health favors granting payment through a grant because the doctors will specialize in primary care during their three years of participation in the program.

In the case of Cuban doctors, they will work in Brazil under a different regime than those who registered individually in the Mais Médicos program. The Brazilian Ministry of Health signed an agreement with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) for the international entity to seek partnerships for bringing doctors to the country. Under the agreement, PAHO made a deal with Cuba, initially anticipating the arrival of 4 Cuban doctors. The first 400 professionals from this agreement to arrive in the country will work in some of the 701 cities that did not receive individual registrations from doctors.

Under the agreement, financial transfers will be made from the Ministry of Health to PAHO (Pan American Health Organization). PAHO will then transfer the funds to the Cuban government, which will pay the doctors. Initially, neither PAHO nor the Ministry of Health could specify how much of the R$10 paid per doctor would be passed on to the professionals; however, the Deputy Secretary for Labor Management and Health Education at the Ministry of Health, Fernando Menezes, later stated that the remuneration would be between R$2,5 and R$4.

Edited by: Talita Cavalcante