In her weekly radio show, Rousseff said her government will hire 10,000 doctors to provide basic medical care to Brazil's urban poor, which is a nationwide program aiming to bring efficient, quality medical care to the majority.

　　Better public service is one of the demands of the nation-wide anti-government protests over the past few weeks.

　　"More doctors throughout the country means ... a healthier population," said Rousseff, stressing the need for more health professionals to work in the country's poorest areas, including the metropolitan areas of large cities, and towns in the north and northeastern regions of the country.

　　While there is a large number of doctors working in the public health sector, they are not enough, said Rousseff.

　　"The lack of doctors is a serious problem," and it will become a greater problem as the government builds new hospitals, she noted.

　　The president also announced plans to increase investment in various sectors including healthcare.

　　"We are investing 7.4 billion Brazilian reals (some 3.274 billion U.S. dollars) to build new hospitals, as well as changing and buying new equipment. Next year we will invest another 5.5 billion reals (some 2.433 billion dollars) for new health units, said Rousseff.

　　Doctors will receive a monthly salary of 10,000 reals (some 4, 400 dollars), as well as a single allowance that could be as much as 30,000 reals (some 13,200 dollars), according to the plan, which will give priority to the country's medical graduates, but hire foreign doctors where vacancies go unfilled.

　　"I want to stress that foreign doctors will only fill the vacancies that are not filled by Brazilian doctors," Rousseff said.

　　The government also announced the opening of 11,447 new slots at medical schools through 2017.

　　The measures announced Monday are part of Roussef's proposed June 24 "Pact for Health" between the federal, regional and local governments to improve the healthcare sector.