Cuba to Receive Doctors Who Didn’t Return from Brazil

The statement follows the recent decision by the new Brazilian government to permanently close the More Doctors Program

The Cuban Public Health Ministry has announced that doctors who decided to stay in Brazil after the island’s termination of its involvement in the More Doctor Programs and who do not find employment there will be allowed to return to work in the island’s public health system.

The statement, read on the primetime TV newscast Tuesday evening, follows the recent decision by the new Brazilian government to permanently close the More Doctors Program.

Before his inauguration, Jair Bolsonaro had promised Cuban doctors who chose not to return to the island at the end of their mission, and others who made families with Brazilian nationals that they would be employed, but that offer has not materialized.

The Public Health Ministry note added that while this is happening, enemies of Cuba in the United States are lobbying for the resuscitation of the repudiated parole program for medical doctors that was cancelled by the Obama Administration.

“Taking into consideration the current circumstances, and putting above all the human dignity, rights and the safety of our doctors, including those who decided not to return after the completion of their mission, the Public Health Ministry ratifies that its willing to receiving them back in the homeland and offer them jobs in the national health system,” the statement said.

It added that the Cuban Embassy and its consulates in Brazil are ready to support their return, offering them the required documentation.