Doctors holding small Cuban and Brazilian flags. Photo: CubaNet/File photo.
In Brazil, president Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva reactivated the “More Doctors” program, a project promoted in 2013 under the administration of Dilma Rousseff. The government initiative aims to increase the number of doctors in small cities in the interior of the country.
On Monday, March 20, from the Planalto Palace, Brazil’s head of state announced additional resources for the “More Doctors” program, which he said had been “extraordinarily successful” in the past, providing essential healthcare services for favela residents, those living in remote Amazonian municipalities, and residents of small and medium-sized cities in the interior of the South American country.
“More Doctors,” in its beginnings, included physicians from various countries, including 8,500 doctors from Cuba. When right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro won the presidential election in late 2018, he sabotaged the agreement by announcing that he would impose individual contracts on foreign participants in the program and require doctors to take exams and validate their credentials domestically, an affront to the program’s participants. As a result, the “More Doctors” program was cancelled.
The social health program promoted in 2013 became responsible for 100 percent of primary care in 1,039 municipalities, hired more than 18,000 professionals, and benefited over 63 million Brazilians.
Now, the Ministry of Health promises to add to the program other healthcare specialists such as dentists, nurses, and social workers.
Excelente conversación con el Ministro Mauro Vieira, Canciller de Brasil 🇧🇷, esta nueva etapa de las relaciones avanza a pasos firmes! https://t.co/ZrBlLd9I0U
— Yvan Gil (@yvangil) March 21, 2023
Venezuela–Brazil relations improving
Meanwhile, a new stage of cooperative relations between Venezuela and Brazil is advancing steadily, according to Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil.
On his social media accounts, Gil wrote this Tuesday that he had a telephone conversation with his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Viera, with whom he discussed the normalization of bilateral relations.
“Excellent conversation with Minister Mauro Vieira, Foreign Minister of Brazil, this new stage of relations is progressing steadily, wrote the Venezuelan foreign minister.
(HispanTV) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SL
