Cuban doctors may be re-hired if Brazil’s More Doctors program returns

Federal court authorities in Brazil decided to authorize the re-hiring of Cuban doctors who worked in the Mais Médicos (“More Doctors”) program.

The decision grants a request from the association representing 1.7 thousand Cuban exchange students who stayed in Brazil. The ruling was signed Friday (Jan. 27) by Judge Carlos Augusto Pires Brandão, in Brasília.

Notícias relacionadas:

• Brazil gov’t wants to replace More Doctors program.

The association argued that doctors who came to the country to work in the program, created in 2013 by then-President Dilma Rousseff, did not have their contract renewed under Médicos pelo Brasil (“Doctors all around Brazil”), created under Jair Bolsonaro’s administration.

According to the association, the Cuban medics selected in the 20th cycle of the program had a two-year contract that could not be extended, while the deal for the other exchange students included a renewable period of three years of work.

In the text, the court underscores the importance of the program in caring for the people living in underserved areas and tackling the humanitarian crisis involving the Yanomami indigenous people.

Humanitarian issues facing the Cuban doctors who stayed in Brazil also played a role in the decision.

“The legitimate expectations of these doctors—who for the most part have built families on Brazilian soil—have clearly been thwarted. After the perfectly legal hiring of their services by the federal government for a long time, it seems reasonable to imagine that [these] Cuban doctors have reworked the plan of their lives based on these contracts and the expectations arising from them. It seems fair to recognize that they now intend to stay in Brazil,” the judge concludes saying.

Controversy

In late 2018, the Cuban government ordered the return of the professionals after a disagreement with statements by then President-elect Jair Bolsonaro regarding changes in the rules for doctors to remain in the program—such as taking the Revalida exam (to assess knowledge of medicine), receiving a full salary (it had been said that the Cuban government retained a portion of the doctors’ salary), and the option to bring family members to Brazil.

Under the current government, the Ministry of Health has been considering reintroducing the Mais Médicos program.