Mais Médicos
The Bolsonaro government also proposed a 50% budget cut, which will affect not only medical programs, but also policies such as the Farmácia Popular do Brasil (English: People's Pharmacy of Brazil).
[9][10][11] In 2011, to try to solve the problem, the federal government created a program called Valorização dos Profissionais da Atenção Básica (English: Valorization of Primary Care Professionals) with the aim of attracting recently graduated doctors to poor regions by providing them with a salary of R$8,000.
In May 2013, the Ministry of Health announced that it was considering a strategy to bring foreign doctors to areas of poverty in order to minimize the shortage of professionals.
Sérgio Perini, a cardiologist and the only physician working in Santa Maria das Barreiras from April 2012 until the start of the program, commented: "People have no one to turn to for help but me.
[1] At the time, Veja magazine published an article favorable to the program and criticized the Federal Council of Medicine for filing a lawsuit with the Public Prosecutor's Office demanding an end to the agreement with the Cuban government.
However, Veja is currently against the Mais Médicos, claiming that Cuba has one of the worst health systems in the world and that the project "will flood Brazil with communist spies".
[14] The first phase, aimed at enrolling doctors who had graduated in Brazil or were already authorized to practice in the country to work in places where there are few professionals, met only 6% of the demand.
[1][16][14] At the beginning of 2014, after an investigation was launched by the Public Prosecutor's Office, the federal government announced that the Cuban doctors would receive US$1245 in addition to their stipend.
According to a survey by the MDA institute, commissioned by the National Transport Confederation and carried out in September, 73.9% of the population was in favor of foreign physicians working in the country.
In their petition, the organizations claimed that hiring professionals trained in other countries without passing the National Medical Diploma Revalidation Exam (Revalida) would be illegal.
João Batista Ribeiro, head judge of the 5th Federal Court of Minas Gerais, denied a request from the CRM-MG not to grant professional registration to foreign physicians.
[26][27][28] In December 2013, doctor Drauzio Varella predicted that the Mais Médicos Program would have "very little impact on the country's public health", because it "is a palliative measure".
[29][30] The Mais Médicos Program was questioned by then federal deputy Jair Bolsonaro (PP-RJ), who argued that it was unethical because it involved basic care, a field that is the responsibility of nurses and not doctors.
The leader of the PSDB in the Chamber, Carlos Sampaio, said that he would ask the Public Prosecutor's Office to monitor the program and the professionals hired by the Brazilian government with regard to compliance with the law.
[34] A note signed by the Teotônio Vilela Institute, linked to the PSDB, stated that PAHO/WHO's support for Mais Médicos only served as a "more serious layer" to the implementation of the program which, according to the text, encouraged the enslavement of Cuban doctors.
It also exposed that the Cuban government was concerned about a possible evaluation process for the doctors in Brazil and a potential rejection of their entry into Brazilian territory.
According to them, the withdrawal was due to President-elect Jair Bolsonaro's announcement of changes in the terms of cooperation, which included direct payment to medical professionals provided by Cuba (and not through the Pan American Health Organization), permission to live with their families in Brazil and the requirement to revalidate their diplomas.
During the same period, the São Paulo Regional Council of Medicine (Cremesp) accelerated the issuing of professional registrations to recently graduated doctors interested in enrolling in the Mais Médicos Program.
[39][40][41] On March 20, 2023, Lula and the Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade, announced the resumption of the Mais Médicos Program prioritizing Brazilian professionals.
