In the land of Christ's Passion, Cubans celebrate.
The population of Brejo da Madre de Deus, 200 kilometers from Recife, held a festive event to welcome the Cuban medical couple Teresa Rosales and Alberto Vicente; "We need those who value human beings," said a resident; the small town becomes famous worldwide during Holy Week, when the Passion of Christ is staged there in the open-air theater of Nova Jerusalém; while the population welcomes professionals with open arms, medical councils create difficulties in granting registrations and only qualify 10% of foreign doctors; crucifixion
247 - The shortage of doctors in Brejo da Madre de Deus (200 km from Recife) turned the arrival of the Cuban medical couple Teresa Rosales, 47, and Alberto Vicente, 43, into a major event this weekend. The town's population held a party to welcome the professionals.
The municipality of 45 inhabitants gains international attention during Holy Week because of the reenactment of the Passion of Christ in the theater-city of Nova Jerusalém. However, for the rest of the year, it has the quiet routine of a small inland town.
"There are many doctors who don't even look at us. Our healthcare system needs professionals who value human beings. It doesn't matter where they're from, as long as they're good professionals," said housewife Maria Eunice Ferreira, 51.
"[The community can expect] the best from us. We will work hard, trying to improve their health. It will always be like that," said Teresa.
Below is a news article from Agência Brasil about the slow pace at which Regional Medical Councils are granting professional registrations to foreign doctors who have already passed the Ministry of Health's exams:
Thais Leitão
Reporter from Agência Brasil
Brasilia - At least 61 professionals with foreign diplomas participating in the Mais Médicos program have received provisional registrations so far and are eligible to begin working in the program, according to information from regional medical councils (CRMs). This number corresponds to less than 10% of the total of 670 approved during the first phase.
According to information obtained by Agência Brasil from CRMs, among the registrations granted, 19 were released today (23) in Rio Grande do Sul. In addition, 30 were granted in Bahia and 12 in Ceará.
The Ministry of Health confirmed only 39 releases (12 in Ceará and 27 in Bahia) and said, through its press office, that a new report should be released by the end of the day. The granting of 17 more registrations in Ceará and ten in Paraíba is expected today or tomorrow (24).
The department has not yet announced when the doctors will begin providing care in each municipality to which they have been assigned.
Initially, the professionals were to start working on September 16, but the department postponed it to this Monday (23), due to the impasse with medical entities.
Since the announcement that doctors trained abroad would not need to have their diplomas revalidated, these institutions have stated that they will not register these professionals, claiming that Brazilian law requires them to pass the National Diploma Revalidation Examination (Revalida).
For medical organizations, the lack of diploma validation leaves the population without any guarantee of the quality of professionals. In several Brazilian states, doctors took to the streets in July to protest against the program.
The Ministry of Health argues that waiving the exam is a way to avoid competition between foreign doctors included in the Mais Médicos program and Brazilian doctors, since, if their diplomas were validated, they could work wherever they wanted and not just with exclusive authorization to work in the outskirts of large cities and in municipalities in the interior.
Edited by: Davi Oliveira