Why are thousands of Cuban doctors leaving Brazil? | The Stream

Brazilians living in poor and under-served regions of the country are wondering what the exit of thousands of Cuban doctors will mean for their future access to healthcare. Since mid-November Cuba has recalled thousands of doctors from Brazil following calls by president-elect Jair Bolsonaro that the terms of the doctors' contracts be revised. Among his demands he wants Cuba to pay the doctors in full; at present, Havana takes about 70 percent of the wages earned by doctors serving in Brazil under a WHO-brokered programme called More Doctors, which was started in 2013 under the watch of then-president Dilma Rousseff. Thousands of Cuban doctors were working in underserved, poor areas of Brazil before havana recalled them. Brazilian doctors tend to work in wealthier parts of the country and the More Doctors programme helped bring healthcare provision to more than 700 municipalities where healthcare provision had been scant. What will be the likely impact of the standoff for millions of people in poor areas of Brazil, how can Brazil bridge the gap in healthcare provision, and what does the impasse mean for Cuba? Join the conversation. TWITTER: https://twitter.com/AJStream FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/AJStream GOOGLE+: http://google.com/+TheStream Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe #aljazeeraenglish #aljazeeralive #ajstream