Brazil launches plans to boost medical workforce

Brazil hopes to have 600 000 doctors by 2026 working in its Unified Health System (SUS), up from 374 000, by increasing its training capacity and fostering national and overseas recruitment of doctors to work in areas with shortages of doctors.

The federal government’s newly launched “Mais Médicos” (“More Doctors”) programme also proposes increasing the number of hospitals and other health units.

Alexandre Padilha, Brazil’s health minister, said, “Brazil lacks doctors: there are 1.8 doctors per 1000 inhabitants, a figure that is lower than several Latin American countries and countries whose public …