Humberto defends the arrival of foreign doctors.
A senator from the PT-PE party defended the entry of these professionals into Brazil to address the shortage, especially in inland cities; "This practice is already applied in developed countries such as Canada, England, and Australia, which have 24%, 27%, and 30%, respectively, of their doctors trained in foreign universities."
The Senate Agency - Senator Humberto Costa (PT-PE) defended, this Wednesday (22), the arrival of foreign doctors to work in Brazil as a way to fill the shortage of these professionals in the country, especially in the interior cities. According to Humberto, the practice is already applied in developed countries such as Canada, England and Australia which have 24%, 27% and 30%, respectively, of their doctors trained in foreign universities.
"In Brazil, however, only 1% of doctors graduated from foreign universities. We cannot leave the population without assistance for corporatist reasons," he said.
The senator cited a study by the Institute for Applied Economic Research (Ipea) according to which 58,1% of Brazilians indicate that the lack of doctors is the main problem of the Unified Health System (SUS). He explained that Brazil has a ratio of 1,8 doctors for every thousand inhabitants, a number lower than that of several countries such as Argentina, England, Portugal and Spain.
– The demand for professionals in clinics and hospitals, in urgent and emergency care units, is much greater than the supply of these professionals. And the situation is worse in the interior of the states, that is, in the less developed regions and those far from large urban centers – he observed.
Humberto Costa emphasized that the Ministry of Health's proposal envisions two ways for foreign doctors to practice in Brazil: the first would be through diploma revalidation, and the second would allow the professional to enter the country to work exclusively in areas lacking doctors.
– The solutions being studied by the Ministry of Health will be thorough and will consider the qualifications of foreign doctors and their ability to care for Brazilians. Instead of simply opposing the arrival of these professionals, what is expected of the medical professions is that they discuss and present proposals, that they negotiate how this will be done – he emphasized.