Amazonas has 15 municipalities considered priorities in the Healthy Brazil Program

ELIMINATION OF DISEASES

The initiative seeks to eliminate infections and diseases such as tuberculosis, leprosy, HIV/AIDS and malaria, which affect socially vulnerable populations

Brazil is the first country in the world to launch a government policy to eliminate or reduce, as public health problems, 14 diseases and infections that affect, more intensely, populations in situations of greater social vulnerability. This is the proposal of Brasil Saudável, a federal government program, launched this Wednesday (7), after signing a decree by the President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade, during the reception of the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom, to Brazil.

With the initiative, the country establishes an international framework, aligned with the WHO, the global goals established by the United Nations (UN) through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda and the initiative of the Pan American Health Organization (Opas) for the elimination of diseases in the Americas.

The Interministerial Committee for the Elimination of Tuberculosis and Other Socially Determined Diseases (CIEDDS) identified 175 cities considered priorities for having high burdens of two or more diseases, or socially determined infections and, therefore, fundamental to the elimination agenda as a health problem. public. In Amazonas, the municipalities of Borba, Coari, Ipixuna, Maraã, Novo Aripuanã, São Paulo de Olivença, Tapauá, Tefé, Alto Alegre, Bonfim, Iracema, Barcelos, Lábrea, Uarini and Manaus will have priority in the program.

Between 2017 and 2021, socially determined diseases were responsible for the deaths of more than 59 thousand people in Brazil. The goal is for the majority of diseases to be eliminated as public health problems: malaria, Chagas disease, trachoma, lymphatic filariasis, schistosomiasis, onchocerciasis, geohelminthiasis, in addition to five vertically transmitted infections (syphilis, hepatitis B, Chagas, HIV and HTLV). Also meeting WHO targets for diagnosis, treatment and reduction of transmission of tuberculosis, leprosy, viral hepatitis and HIV/AIDS.

The program arose from the creation of CIEDDS, an unprecedented action that, since its institution in April 2023, reinforces the Brazilian government’s commitment to ending diseases and infections determined and perpetuated by cycles of poverty, hunger and social inequalities in the country. The installation of these measures is part of the premise that guaranteeing access to health treatment alone is not enough to achieve these goals. It is necessary to propose intersectoral public policies that are aimed at health equity and reducing inequities, a factor directly linked to the causes of the problem.

In this sense, through the new program, the Ministry of Health and 13 other federal government ministries will act on several fronts, focusing on combating hunger and poverty; expansion of human rights and social protection for priority populations and territories; qualification of workers, social movements and civil society; encouraging scientific and technological innovation for diagnosis and treatment; and expansion of infrastructure and basic and environmental sanitation actions. Based on these guidelines, the expectation is that the most vulnerable groups have less risk of becoming ill and that people affected by diseases and infections can undergo treatment appropriately, with less costs and better results in the network of professionals and health services.

Healthy Brazil will be coordinated by the Ministry of Health, through CIEDDS, with actions coordinated between the Science, Technology and Innovation portfolios; Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight Against Hunger; Human Rights and Citizenship; Education; of Racial Equality; Integration and Regional Development; Social Security; Labor and Employment; Justice and Public Security; of Cities; of the women; Environment and Climate Change; and Indigenous Peoples. It is also planned to establish partnerships with social movements and civil society organizations to enhance the implementation of actions in priority municipalities. A special page on the Ministry of Health portal provides all the details of the program.

*With information from consultancy

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