Five public hospitals in Rio de Janeiro will be bullet-proofed to protect patients from gunfights between the city’s gangs, Brazil’s state news agency Agencia Brasil said.

The federal hospitals will have concrete walls, windows with steel shutters and bullet-proof glass to protect patients and medical staff.

Services in the most high-risk rooms will be relocated or protective measures will be taken.

The security measures will be carried out as part of a $US250m upgrade of the hospitals.