Country uses R$44 million for dengue, out of R$1.5 billion available – 03/05/2024 – Balance and Health

Until this Tuesday (5), the Ministry of Health released R$44 million in emergency funding to combat dengue. The resource is part of the R$1.5 billion reserved by the ministry to face health emergencies in 2024.

To receive additional resources, states and municipalities must declare a health emergency and present an action plan against dengue. The ministry requires that this document shows the epidemiological situation and the scenario of the health care network, among other points.

More than 150 municipalities, in addition to seven states (Acre, Minas Gerais, Goiás, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina and São Paulo) and the Federal District have already declared a state of emergency, according to a report released by the Ministry of Health last week .

So far, the largest portion of the extra funding against dengue has been allocated to the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, which received around R$16.2 million.

The emergency resource was sent to 79 municipalities and 3 states. “An additional 25 municipalities and 1 state should receive more resources in the coming days. It is worth noting that the resource is released at the request of the managers themselves, after analysis by the Ministry”, said Health.

The ministry has not yet estimated what the total figure sent to states and municipalities against the disease caused by the mosquito should be. Aedes aegypti. The first emergency transfers for dengue were authorized on February 27th.

After Rio, DF and Belo Horizonte are the places that received the most extra funding against dengue in 2024, more than R$5 million each. Next, Goiás received R$3.6 million and the state of Minas Gerais was the destination for an additional R$3 million.

In December 2023, the ministry allocated R$256 million to states and municipalities for actions to “prevent endemic diseases with an emphasis on arboviruses”, such as dengue. In addition to these extra resources, the department also makes scheduled transfers every year to reinforce surveillance across the country.

Brazil has 1.2 million probable cases of dengue, in addition to 278 confirmed deaths and another 744 under investigation, according to an update made by the ministry this Monday (4). The DF leads the disease incidence rate, with 4,174.1 probable cases per 100 thousand inhabitants. The federal capital is also the federation unit with the most deaths, at least 79.

On February 9, the ministry published the ordinance that sets out rules for releasing extra funds for health emergencies.

The extra resources are transferred to state and municipal health funds. The money is used to cover the costs of providing services to the population. In other words, it can pay teams and other costs to maintain or expand the functioning of the local health network.

The ministry vetoed the use of the funds for “construction or expansion of buildings and acquisition of permanent material”. “The funding resources may be used to pay staff, purchase medicines, logistics and other current expenses within the scope of the emergency response”, states the ordinance.

In addition to cases of increased contagion of a certain disease, states and municipalities can declare a health emergency and request extra funding when there are environmental disasters or situations of lack of assistance to the population, according to the ministry’s rules.

The municipality or state that receives the emergency funding must present the evolution of the health situation weekly and record cases, deaths and assistance.

The Ministry of Health estimates reaching 4.2 million to 5 million cases in 2024, in the worst scenario for the disease.

“What we are experiencing now is an atypical phenomenon in relation to dengue, because it is not common for us to have three consecutive years of case numbers of this magnitude,” said Alda Maria da Cruz, director of the Department of Communicable Diseases at the Ministry of Health. , The Sheet at the end of February.

“We still don’t know if what we are experiencing now is an anticipation of the curve [de casos] and, therefore, also an anticipation of the period of decrease in cases or whether we will actually have a magnitude of cases that could and is estimated to be the largest in the history of the country and the Americas”, he further stated.

The ministry also purchased 5.2 million doses of the dengue vaccine. The vaccines began to be delivered to municipalities this month. Children and adolescents aged 10 to 14 are the initial target audience for the vaccination campaign.

Last week, minister Nísia Trindade said that there is an expectation of a reduction in cases in some states by the end of March. She stated, however, that the data is being evaluated and it is not possible to indicate what the disease’s behavior will be in the country.

“This is an expectation in relation to the Federal District, Minas Gerais, but as the situation is very heterogeneous, it is very complex,” said the minister.

The national secretary of Health Surveillance, Ethel Maciel, stated that the ministry observes a decline in cases in some states, but that it is still necessary to confirm whether this movement is sustainable. “I think that in the next two weeks we will have a more defined scenario.”