Brasilia, Brazil.- Cuba sent experienced doctors to Brazil and it was an emergency response to the shortage of professionals in the interior of the country, the representative of the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), Joaquin Molina, said on Thursday.

‘They are doctors with experience. Cuba never sent to Brazil doctors who have just graduated, only those with experience,’ said Molina, who was quoted by the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper.

He explained that the arrival of Cuban physicians to work in the More Doctors Program represented an emergency response at a time when Brazil was ‘desperate’ due to the shortage of health professionals.

According to Molina, who has been in Brazil since 2012 and has followed up on the program closely from the beginning, ‘the need for foreign doctors was obvious.’

When Brazil created the More Doctors Program, it was in a desperate situation, with thousands of open and unoccupied vacancies, and those occupied were partially’, says the PAHO representative.

He stated that five years later, the high number of doctors, in places where there was no interest on the Brazilian side, showed that the shortage and poor distribution of physicians in the country still persists.

This month, Cuba announced the end of its participation in the More Doctors Program. Its decision responded to questions and derogatory statements by President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, who wished to change the arrangement with the Cuban professionals.

For Molina, the possibility to break the agreement was expected.

The decision was made by Cuba, but it is not surprising. In any case, it would be difficult for them to continue in the current conditions,’ he pointed out.

The PAHO official rejected criticisms about the training of the Cuban physicians, many of whom have experience in other missions of collaboration.