RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's President Michel Temer said on Friday that the government is taking steps to replace the over 8,000 Cuban doctors who are leaving the country.

The Health Ministry will make immediate replacements in addition to hiring new doctors.

"I have talked to Minister Gilberto Occhi about hiring doctors to cover the eventual absence of the Cuban doctors," he said.

The Cuban doctors worked in Brazil through the "More Doctors" program, a cooperation initiative through which the government of former President Dilma Rousseff launched in 2013 to increase the number of doctors working in poor and isolated areas such as the Amazon rainforest and slums of major cities.

Brazilian and foreign doctors participated in the program, but the number of Cuban doctors has been high.

However, the Cuban government announced this week it is recalling the physicians in the program after Brazilian President-elect Jair Bolsonaro set unacceptable conditions, including doctors signing individual contracts instead of the collective contract between the two governments.

"Cubans have provided a valuable service to the Brazilian people with dignity, deep sensitivity, professionalism, dedication and altruism," Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel wrote on Twitter. "Such humane acts should be respected and defended."