First 206 Cuban MDs Arrive in Brazil

First 206 Cuban MDs Arrive in Brazil

August 24, 2013



HAVANA TIMES — A first contingent of 206 Cuban doctors arrived today in

Brazil, of a total of 4,000 to participate in the Brazilian government

program called "More Doctors", designed to compensate for the lack of

physicians in the poorest regions of the country, reported dpa news.



The Cubans arrived amid the hostile climate created by Brazilian medical

associations who oppose both the entire program and recruiting Cubans in

particular.



While the critics say the type of labor contract would be considered

slave labor in Brazil, the Cubans say they are participating "in

solidarity" with the population "not for money."



"We are doctors by vocation and not for money. We work because our

assistance is requested, not for a salary, in Brazil or anywhere else in

the world," said Nelson Rodriguez a family doctor, quoted by the

newspaper "Folha Sao Paulo ".



The Brazilian medical associations question the collective contracting

of the doctors via an agreement between the Brazilian government and the

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Under the agreement, the

doctors will not receive their wages directly. PAHO will deliver the

funds to the Cuban government which will then pay the doctors.



The associations note that the Cubans receive only a small portion of

the salary stipulated for program participants, equivalent to 10,000

reals a month (about US $ 4,200), since part of the funds go to PAHO and

another portion to the Cuban government.



For the Brazilian organizations the contract model being used is the

equivalent of medical "slave labor" and described the government's

undertaking as "irresponsible" and "disrespectful".



Also the Brazilian Labor Department questioned the Cuban labor contract,

which the prosecutor Jose Ramos Pereira called "totally illegal" saying

it violates the country's labor laws and the Brazilian Constitution.



Meanwhile, the "Folha" Regional Councils of Medicine threatened to call

the police at the time that Cuban doctors start work and warned that

Brazilian physicians will not correct any errors committed by their

Cuban colleagues, which they consider unqualified.



The 206 Cubans arrived today at Recife Airport in the northeast of the

country. Thirty of them will remain in the capital of Pernambuco, while

the rest of the group will journey to Brasilia.



Another 194 Cuban doctors are expected to arrive on Sunday. Along with

244 doctors from other countries, they will start on Monday the

mandatory training course prior to beginning their basic health care

work across the country.



The official Brazilian ABR news agency said the Cubans who arrived

Saturday will be working in indigenous communities and other areas of

the country that did not arouse interest among applicants from other

countries, such as Spain and Portugal, to participate in the program.



Brazilian Health Minister Alexandre Padilha once again today refuted the

criticism from the Brazilian physicians, who are unwilling to work in

the poor isolated municipalities but don't want the Cubans there either.



"Between today and tomorrow 400 very experienced Cuban doctors will

arrive, 86 percent of them with over 16 years experience in

international missions," said the minister.



He stressed that the doctors "come to work in the 701 municipalities

that no Brazilian or other foreign doctor chose" and said that his

ministry assures "the quality of Cuban doctors."



"That's why we demanded that the doctors be experienced. They all have

expertise in family medicine and other postgruade programs," he added.



Source: "The first 206 Cuban MDs of 4,000 arrived in Brazil on Saturday"

- http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=98295