Brazil Intends to Import 4,000 Doctors from Cuba

Brazil plans to import 4,000 physicians from Cuba to work primarily in poor, rural areas at an estimated $200 million cost, according to Miami Herald.

The first 400 Cuban doctors to participate in Brazil's Mais Medicos program is set to arrive this weekend and will undergo a three-week orientation together with other doctors who have earned their diplomas abroad.

According to the Miami Herald, all 400 doctors joining the first wave of the program have previous experiences in other international missions for Cuba, which sends healthcare professionals to 50 different countries from South Africa to Bolivia.

Cuba's doctors-for-oil program in Venezuela is considered the best known medical exchange in the country where 35,000 Cuban healthcare professionals, security advisors, teachers and sports trainers work in exchange for approximately 96,000 barrels of Venezuelan oil at subsidized prices.

"The Cuban doctors are experienced physicians who have already worked in Portuguese-speaking countries and that have a specialty as family doctors. We are certainly bringing a very prepared group to Brazil," said Joaquin Molina, PAHO representative in Brazil.

There has still been some resistance among Brazilian medical professionals to import Cuban doctors due to their training and language abilities, according to Miami Herald.