Recruiting health professionals to the COVID-19 response, Brazil

PROBLEM: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic posed a major workforce challenge to Brazil, which has a large land area and a shortage of health workers in regions distant from the big cities. APPROACH: The Brazilian health ministry implemented a computerized solution to provide rapid support to states and municipalities to hire health professionals from large urban centres to work in underserved areas during the COVID-19 pandemic. We designed an online system for health professionals to register their willingness to work on the COVID-19 response; the system was launched to the public in April 2020. LOCAL SETTING: Brazil is a large country with great heterogeneity in access to health care across its different regions. Before the initiative was launched, 5 156 020 health professionals were officially registered with professional councils. However, an estimated 3 200 000, more than 60% of them, were working in the two regions with the highest standard of living. RELEVANT CHANGES: Up to February 2022, 1 007 138 health professionals had self-registered on the system, providing a sizeable database of professionals from a range of disciplines. Of these, 371 275 professionals were willing to work on the COVID-19 response in remote areas. By 1 February 2022, 157 755 professionals have been trained and deployed to these underserved areas. LESSONS LEARNT: Partnership of the government with professional councils and the use of official communication channels were important strategies to improve registration and ensure the success of the scheme. We predict that the database will assist with future public health campaigns in Brazil.