Brazil in talks to hire 6,000 Cuban doctors
Both countries are consulting the Pan American Health Organization to allow Cuban doctors to practise in Brazil, since most Brazilian doctors are concentrated in the country's bigger cities, leaving remote areas badly covered. Still, 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.
Cuba has already sent tens of thousands of doctors to work in Venezuela, which in turn provides Havana with cheap oil. Nevertheless, 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.
The talks with Cuba were initiated by President Dilma Rousseff in January last year, during her visit to Havana and, at the time, Ms Rousseff also spoke about joint production of medicine, another topic mentioned by Mr Patriota on Monday.
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. According to Reuters, Brazil’s development bank BNDES is expected to loan $176m (£113m) to Cuba for work at its airports.
Bilateral trade between the two countries reached a record $661m last year and Cuban authorities say Brazil is its sixth biggest trading partner and main food supplier.
A version of this article appeared on BBC’s website. September, 20th, 2013
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