More doctors will increase the rigor of vacancies and give priority to deep Brazil, says Health Minister | Science and health

The minister said that only cities in a critical and unconditional situation to pay their professionals should benefit from the government subsidy provided under the program.

An amendment to the law in force is under discussion between the pulp, the states and the municipalities. Mandetta denies that the proposals studied mean the end of the program. According to him, the more doctors will be revised to meet the criteria still under review.

The Ministry says that more than 8,000 vacancies after the departure of Cuban professionals have been filled by Brazilians trained in Brazil and abroad. Therefore, there will be another step of the edict for foreign doctors. For those already selected in the previous phase, a new list was published on Thursday (7):

• 13 February: publication of the list of municipalities for which vacancies remain;
• February 13 and 14: dates for Brazilians trained
• February 19: final publication of Brazilians trained abroad who will fill vacancies

Old program, new criteria

Not to mention "end of the program", Mandetta says that it is important "back to basics" of the law that established most doctors: serving the most needy areas of Brazil. He says that changes will be proposed for the hiring of doctors in these places, but that there is no provision for opening new edicts.

Previously, when all the criteria were established, the amendments made to the original law would be transmitted to Congress.

"It is still a program created in this ancient law, it [Mais Médicos] is intended for cities without a doctor, where they grew up for political use." You have had cases like that of Brasilia, the capital of the country, The original program was created for real Brazil, for deep Brazil, "he explained.

To make sure that only cities that really need a government grant get vacancies through the program, the minister proposes this "break" for further discussion.

"No, it will not end the program. The Union will continue to badign doctors to difficult cities. For the Xingu National Park, in the Jequitinhonha Valley, there will be more like in Campo Mourão, in Paraná, where Cuban doctors were 100% covered because there was a political alignment between the mayor and the ministry, which are distortions we do not want. "

According to the Minister, the Human Development Index (HDI) of cities and a needs badysis, based on the presence or absence of doctors will be taken into account.

"But in Rio de Janeiro, Complexo do Alemão, is it essential?" Now, is Rio de Janeiro a city that can contract a doctor to go to Complexo do Alemão? He has a strong secretary, a health secretary, technicians, 7 or 8 medical schools, he has a very big apparatus and Rio can solve it alone. "

About the establishment of a career plan for doctors, Mandetta said that the creation of the "state physician" was provided in the government plan presented by President Jair Bolsonaro. This should also be done to attract more doctors to the interior of the country, no matter the doctors.

• It was created in July 2013 to develop medical care mainly in the poorest regions
• In August 2013, an agreement was concluded with the Opas for the participation of Cuban doctors
• . The participation of Brazilians trained in Brazil has increased by 38% between 2016 and 2017, according to the Ministry of Health.
• The program has 18,240 spaces in more than 4,000 municipalities and 34 special aboriginal health districts (DSEI)
• According to the Ministry of Health, it serves approximately 63 million Brazilians.
• Cuban participation in the program was renewed earlier this year for another five years.
• A government survey published in 2016 showed that the program is responsible for 48% of primary care teams in municipalities with 10,000 or fewer inhabitants.
• According to data published in 2016, Mais Médicos accounted for 100% of basic health care coverage in 1,100 municipalities served by the program.