Brazil Allows 1,800 Cubans to Reenter Mais Médicos Program

The federal government put out an application on Thursday (26) to readmit 1,800 Cubans who stayed in Brazil after the breach of contracts between Cuba and Pan American Health Organization in 2018. The document, published in a special edition of the Official Gazette of this Thursday, extends the contracts of professionals for another two years. This was already a foreseen government move since Brazil's Doctors Law was approved. This new program will gradually replace Mais Medicos. In practice, the readmittance of Cuban Doctors should breathe new life into Mais Medicos at a time when the number of professionals in the program is falling. Of the 18,240 original vacancies, there are only 13,845 have doctors working today. The rest are suspended or waiting to be replaced. In comparison, in November 2018, the program had 15,002 doctors working. In January, that number decreased to 14,298 and now to 13,845.