Campaign promise, program will have BRL 600 million to reduce the queue of elective surgeries, consultations and exams dammed in the pandemic.| Photo: Tânia Rêgo/Agência Brasil

A campaign promise made by the former presidential candidate and current Minister of Planning, Simone Tebet (MDB), during last year’s election, the National Policy for Reducing Queues for Elective Surgery will be launched this Monday (6) during the visit of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) to Rio de Janeiro, with the Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade.

The program will allocate BRL 600 million to states and municipalities to reduce the queue of surgeries, exams and consultations in the Unified Health System (SUS) that were dammed up during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to information from the Ministry of Health, part of the resources was made possible by the ceiling-hole PEC, approved at the end of last year.

Initially, R$ 200 million will be transferred this month to “encourage the organization of mutirões across the country to relieve the dammed demand”, says the ministry in a note. The remainder, of approximately R$ 400 million, will be released according to the production of surgeries performed, mainly abdominal, orthopedic and ophthalmological.

According to the government, each state will establish its own strategies for executing the program, such as the surgeries considered a priority “according to the local reality”. There is also a second phase to be carried out between April and June, with diagnostic tests and specialized consultations, focusing on oncological treatments.