Brazil drops plan to import Cuban doctors

[Bacchus4.0]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/08/us-brazil-doctors-cuba-idUSBRE9670YB20130708






In May, Brazil's government said it was in talks with Cuba to hire 6,000 Cuban doctors to serve in remote parts of the country where medical services are deficient or non-existent.

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Instead of a contingent Cuban doctors, Brazil's Health Ministry will hire foreign doctors where needed on an individual basis. Each foreign doctor, a ministry official said, will individually apply for the work in Brazil.

"We never reached a deal with Cuba. Now the priority is Spain and Portugal," the official said.

Cuban doctors can apply, he said, but ads offering doctors work in Brazil will be posted in Spain and Portugal, not in Cuba.

[Bacchus4.0]

1. Cubans on Medical Aid Mission Flee Venezuela, but Find Limbo

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/19/AR2007021901045.html

old article but interesting. It doesn't look like Cuban doctors are, in general, what the Cuban propagandists tells us they are. Venezuela's medical association had doubts about their qualifications, and now, Brazil.



Chávez and other government officials have declared the program, called Inside the Barrio, a success. But a Venezuelan medical association critical of the Chávez government has expressed reservations about the Cuban doctors' qualifications, and political opposition leaders have criticized the program for its lack of transparency. Cuban doctors are not permitted to talk to foreign journalists or diplomats. They must seek permission to travel outside of their assigned municipalities, and doctors who have defected say Cuban and Venezuelan intelligence operatives kept close tabs on their whereabouts.

The doctors in Bogota spoke of the pride they felt delivering care to the poor in the name of their small country, which has made health care a priority since Castro took power in 1959. But they also talked of being terrified working in Venezuelan neighborhoods buffeted by crime.

Most jumped at the chance to work overseas, seeing it as an opportunity to earn far more than the $15 a month they were paid in Cuba. But the workload was heavy -- from early morning until night, sometimes seven days a week. And the pay -- around $200 a month -- quickly evaporated in a country with high prices and double-digit inflation.

Although it is unclear how many have defected, Western diplomats in Bogota said that in 2006 there were 63 Cubans, most of them presumed to be medical professionals, who sought asylum in this country. That group does not include those who headed straight to the U.S. Embassy seeking help. U.S. authorities here referred questions about the Cubans to Homeland Security officials in Washington, who did not return telephone calls.

[Bacchus4.0]

2. Brazilian medical council condemns plan to bring in 6,000 Cuban doctors

Brazilian medical associations have opposed Cuban-trained doctors practicing in their country, arguing that standards at Cuba’s medical schools are lower than in Brazil and equivalent in some cases to a nursing education.

Over the past decade Cuba’s communist government has sent 30,000 doctors to work in poor neighbourhoods of Venezuela, Havana’s closest political ally in Latin America, under an agreement reached with the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez that involved an exchange of medical services for cheap oil.

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The Federal Council of Medicine, a body that represents doctors in Brazil, said the proposal was “irresponsible” as the Cuban doctors’ “technical and ethical quality was in doubt”. It issued a statement demanding foreign doctors be recertified in Brazil before being allowed to practice.

http://dilemma-x.net/2013/05/07/brazilian-medical-council-condemns-plan-to-bring-in-6000-cuban-doctors/

[Socialistlemur]

3. Makes sense but...

I would start a scholarship program for students who are willing to commit to serve in tough reas...or raise pay for such service. I worked in Moscow in the past and I received a 35 % bonus.

[Bacchus4.0]

4. I heard they are paying $4500/month

that would seem fairly attractive to foreign doctors even US. get a Peace Corps type experience but with money. Learn a new language for free. Conditions might be a little tough but I am sure there would be plenty of time for rest and relaxation. You'd probably come home with tens of thousands of dollars saved up. You wouldn't be able to spend that much money there. I assume housing would be provided as well.

Something tells me though that the $4500/month wasn't the deal the Cuban doctors were going to get, rather, indentured servants whose service would be paid back to the Cuban state. I believe that was the deal in the works.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Do you have a link to validate your assumption? It would be useful, wouldn't it? n/t

[Bacchus4.0]

6. I sure do Miss Information Latina

He announced that Brazil will finance the modernization of five airports in Cuba, where Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht is already building a container terminal at the port of Mariel.

Earlier on Monday in Havana, Brazil's Trade Minister Fernando Pimentel signed an agreement setting conditions for a $176 million loan from its giant development bank BNDES to upgrade and expand the airports of Havana, Santa Clara, Holguin, Cayo Coco and Cayo Largo.

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Mind you, the deal is no longer. http://news.yahoo.com/brazil-deploy-6-000-cuban-doctors-remote-areas-203029506.html