Brasilia, April 6 (RHC)-- About 15 percent of the Brazilian doctors who entered President Jair Bolsonaro's program More Doctors Program (MDP), set up when he ended the Cuban doctors' program, gave up in the first three months, Folha de Sao Paulo has reported.

According to media reports, at least 1,052 out of 7,120 Brazilian doctors -- who took over between December 2018 and January 2019 -- have already left their positions.  In addition, 1,397 more Brazilian doctors, all of whom were trained abroad and started activities last week, are expected to leave.

The Brazilian physicians’ average stay ranges from one week to three months.  The main reasons for quitting are their desire to work in better places, receive specialized training and attend medical residency.

Although this dropout situation was already expected, the resignation rate concerns health authorities because there is no date planned for replacing these vacancies, which is leaving health facilities without professionals.

The Brazilian Health Ministry data also showed that 31 percent of the MDP resignations happened in cities which have 20 percent or more people living in extreme poverty.  They are followed by capital cities and metropolitan regions, which account for 20 percent of the dropouts.

"In smaller cities, resignations may be more related to working conditions and life quality... however, in larger cities, [resignation rates] are related to the labor market," Mario Scheffer, a professor at the Sao Paulo University’s Medical School told Folha and explained that "what used to guarantee permanency was the special features of the contracts applied to the Cuban doctors, who were banned from practicing medicine outside the More Doctors Program."