Brazil unveils plan to hire 10,000 doctors for poor areas

[Tony_FLADEM]

Brazil has unveiled plans to hire 10,000 doctors to work in poorly served areas as part of wider reforms.

The shake-up will include employing foreign doctors for the first time from September, as well as changes to the university medicine curriculum.

Students graduating from 2015 must serve two years in the public sector.

The changes come about a month after millions took to the streets in mass demonstrations against poor public services, corruption and other issues.

The health ministry said the "More Doctors" scheme was modelled on health services in countries such as Britain and Sweden.
Transparency demand

Foreign doctors will only be considered if the posts are not filled by Brazilian nationals, officials say.

The job vacancies will reportedly be advertised at the end of the month.

"The More Doctors programme does not have a primary goal of bringing doctors from abroad, but chiefly of taking more health services to the inner country," President Dilma Rousseff said.

Ms Rousseff said the plans were not only tackling a long term problem but the "here and now" of Brazilians who do not have access to doctors.

The doctors hired under the new scheme will be paid a "stipend" of 10,000 reais (less than $ 4,500 a month).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-23235948

[Benton D Struckcheon]

1. Mexico already does this

Anyone graduating from their schools who is a Mexican citizen and who has therefore been privileged to go to their schools at a reduced rate (Americans pay full freight, of course) must do two years of social service as repayment. This is how they give medical services in the boondocks or to poor folk in the city.