Brazil advocates preparedness for future pandemics
The Lula 3 government is preparing to ensure that future pandemics do not have the same impact on the country as the new coronavirus and is strengthening epidemiological surveillance, science, and technology, official sources reported yesterday.
According to Brazil’s Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade, Brazil has created a preparedness program for future pandemics and is working on this proposal with the World Health Organization (WHO).
Trinidade evaluated that the project includes epidemiological surveillance, investments in science and technology, and reinforced attention to the Unified Health System (SUS).
“Health is a new front for development in the world. Brazil cannot be behind in this process, and now that the country will assume the presidency of the G20, we must pay attention to this process.”
“Science and technology are fundamental for health but must be at SUS’s service. They cannot be seen as isolated factors”, commented the minister.
Trinidade recalled that the COVID-19 pandemic challenged the world and described it as unacceptable that the country, having a universal health system, has registered more than 700,000 deaths from the disease.
“Let’s not forget that the moment that should be of solidarity was not, on the contrary: we saw inequity in the distribution of vaccines; we saw several countries that did not have access to the vaccine, despite the vision of health as a public good.”
“And Brazil has a fundamental role in making us think of health as a public good. This should articulate the public and private sectors”, she commented, defending a vision of SUS as a social policy and a structuring factor of the country’s environmental, social, and inclusive development.
For the minister, the pandemic aggravated the process of deterioration of Brazilian health, with a generalized worsening of indicators and institutional, budgetary, and regulatory setbacks that led to the dismantling of policies and the loss of credibility as a health authority.
The situation left by the previous government, according to Trinidade, includes 27.1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine without time to distribute and a waste of almost 40 million doses since 2021, representing a loss of 2 billion reais (US$400 million) for the public coffers, in addition to doses and inputs that expire in the coming months.
“At the same time that there was wastage, there was also a lack of key vaccines, such as polio, measles, including infant COVID, which had been acquired, but in insufficient volume for an effective campaign,” she lamented.
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This article was drafted with automated assistance and reviewed before publication. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief