Rio de Janeiro, Aug 22 (IANS): Brazil has contracted with a US-based public health agency to hire 4,000 Cuban physicians to work in rural and remote regions of the country.

Brazilian Health Minister Alexandre Padilha Wednesday signed an agreement in this regard with the Pan-American Health Organization to hire the Cuban physicians to work in Brazil.

The first group of 400 doctors would arrive in Brazil in the next few days, and would be stationed in towns which are participating in the local government's More Doctors programme, Xinhua reported.

The rest of the 4,000 Cuban doctors are expected to arrive in Brazil by November this year, according to the agreement.

The programme aims at attracting professionals from urban areas to rural and remote regions in Brazil.

Under the agreement, the Cuban government will receive $4,081 per month for each of the 4,000 doctors.

However, every doctor would undergo a three-week-long evaluation in Brazilian universities and only those who pass the evaluation will be admitted in the programme.