What is the role of the Ministry of Institutional Relations?
In a thread published on Twitter, Padilha explained the main functions of Institutional Relations.
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“The ministry is responsible for making the president’s relations with what we call Governance. Through dialogue with governors, mayors, the National Congress and the Council – the Economic and Social Development Council, which brings together businesspeople, unions, cultural agents, social movements, etc. – let’s propose a debate to build consensus for the country. We want to dialogue to build consensus on how we will face the problem of hunger, unemployment, the health and education crisis. How are we going to resume Brazil’s environmental role and create a safe environment for those who want to invest?”
Who is Alexandre Padilha?
- Graduated in Medicine from State University of Campinas (Unicamp) with a specialization in Infectious Diseases.
- 1989 and 1994: member of the national coordination of Lula's presidential campaigns.
- 2004: director of Indigenous Health at the National Health Foundation (Funasa) in Lula's first term.
- 2005 to 2010: Secretariat for Institutional Relations (SRI) of the Presidency of the Republic (first as advisor and then as minister).
- 2011 to 2014: Minister of Health in the Dilma government.
- 2014: candidate for governor of the state of São Paulo; was defeated by Geraldo Alckmin.
- 2015 to 2017: municipal health secretary of São Paulo under Mayor Fernando Haddad.
- 2018: elected federal deputy.
Creation of the Mais Médicos program
O More Doctors was launched by Alexandre Padilha in mid-2013 to streamline the supply of health professionals in the public network. The program hired recently graduated doctors who agreed to work in health units in the interior and in peripheral neighborhoods; in return, in addition to their salary, they would receive bonuses on residency tests. Doctors who used Fies loans could also reduce part of their debts by working in needy areas. (Jot)
The program caused some controversy, as medical entities claimed the need to revalidate the diplomas of foreigners hired. At the time, Padilha argued that the program was emergency due to the need to cover underserved areas and said that all doctors underwent training, in addition to receiving supervision throughout the program.
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Around the world, it is common for medical diplomas to be revalidated through theoretical and practical tests, which attest to the professional's ability to offer medical services to the population of a country other than the one in which the diploma was issued.
Alexandre Padilha was even declared “persona non grata” by the Brazilian Medical Association (AMB) and the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM) for waiving the revalidation of diplomas.
