Thousands of Cuban doctors leave Brazil after Bolsonaro’s win
CUBA - Cuba has begun pulling out 8,300 doctors working in poor and remote regions of Brazil after far-right president-elect Jair Bolsonaro demanded contract changes to program
Cuba has begun withdrawing 8,300 doctors working in some of the poorest regions of Brazil, prompting fears that indigenous villages, small towns and isolated rural communities could soon be left without medical care. The move came after Brazil’s far-right president-elect Jair Bolsonaro threatened to cut relations with Cuba and modify the conditions of a fiveyear-old agreement between the two countries and the World Health Organisation. The growing row offers a worrying sign of how the former army captain may handle diplomacy after assuming office on 1 January. On Tuesday, Brazil published an emergency tender for doctors trained in the country to replace the Cubans who were working under a programme called Mais Medicos, or More Doctors. Chartered flights have begun carrying the Cuban doctors home, some carrying televisions and other goods, causing queues and cancelled appointments where they worked. Medical experts are worried the government will be unable to fill all the vacancies before they have all left by WHO’s expected final date of 12 December.
“I am extremely concerned about the potential health impact of this and how Brazil will be able to fill those positions,” said Albert Ko, a professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health who has worked in Brazil. The result will be “an abrupt fall in medical attention,” said Henrique Passos, a medical supervisor for Cuban doctors working in farflung indigenous communities in the Amazon, many of which got their first doctor under More Doctors. Cuba announced it was pulling out of the programme on 14 November, blaming Bolsonaro for declaring plans to modify the terms of the programme by insisting that Cuban doctors validate their diplomas and sign individual contracts. It also accused him of making “direct, contemptuous and threatening comments.” Earlier in the month, Bolsonaro, had questioned whether Brazil could maintain diplomatic relations with Cuba and said the More Doctors could only continue if Cuban doctors validated their diplomas and received their full pay. Currently, Cuba keeps around 75% of the doctors’ 2,400 pound allowance, though housing and food is paid by local authorities.
(The Guardian)