Approval Grows for Foreign Doctors Plan

08/13/2013 - 08h38

A new Datafolha survey has revealed that approval of the government's proposal to bring foreign doctors to Brazil as part of its 'Mais Medicos' (More Doctors) program has increased.

According to the survey, carried out between Wednesday and Friday last week, 54% of those interviewed were in favor of bringing doctors from abroad to work in regions of the country lacking health professionals.

At the end of June, the approval rating was 47%. Likewise, 48% of respondents opposed the project in June, a figure which has now fallen to 40%.

Datafolha carried out 2615 interviews in 160 cities throughout the country. The margin given for error is two percentage points either way.

In general, those who support the plan are more likely to be male (59%); have a basic level of education (54%); sympathize with the governing Worker's Party (62%); and have a positive view of the government (63%).

Most live in the northeastern region of the country (60%), in cities of between 50,000 and 200,000 inhabitants (60%).

The strongest critics of the project are more likely to have a university education (52%); assess Dilma Rousseff's presidency as bad or terrible (52%) and live in cities of more than 500,000 inhabitants (46%).

Translated by TOM GATEHOUSE

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