Brazil in talks to hire 6,000 Cuban doctors

Brazil has begun negotiations to hire at least
6,000 Cuban doctors to work in rural areas,
Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota
says.

Both countries are consulting the Pan
American Health Organization to allow Cuban
doctors to practise in Brazil.

Most Brazilian doctors are concentrated in
the country's bigger cities, leaving remote
areas badly covered.

Cuba has already sent tens of thousands of
doctors to work in Venezuela, which in turn
provides Havana with cheap oil.

There was no deadline yet for the doctors'
arrival in Brazil, Mr Patriota told reporters
after meeting his Cuban counterpart, Bruno
Rodriguez, in the Cuban capital.

A Brazilian doctors' organisation, the Federal
Medical Council, said the proposal was
"irresponsible" because of questions
surrounding medical qualifications. It
condemned the step as a "politico-electoral"
programme.

'Pharmaceuticals'

The talks with Cuba were initiated by
President Dilma Rousseff in January last
year, during her visit to Havana.

At the time, Ms Rousseff also spoke about
joint production of medicine, another topic
mentioned by Mr Patriota on Monday.

"Cuba is very proficient in the areas of
medicine, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology
and Brazil is considering receiving around
6,000 Cubans doctors or a little more," said
the Brazilian Foreign minister.

Both countries also discussed infrastructure
projects in Cuba "such as the Mariel port,
and also the refurbishment of the airports in
Havana and Santiago, which will also be
financed by Brazil," Mr Patriota said.

Brazil is expected to loan $176m (£113m)
from its development bank BNDES for work
at Cuban airports, Reuters reported.

Cuban authorities say Brazil is its sixth
biggest trading partner and main food
supplier.

Bilateral trade between the two countries
reached a record $661m last year, up 6% on
2011.


Source:bbc