Health removes director for funk performance – 10/07/2023 – Health

The Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade, published a video on Saturday night (7) stating that she was surprised by the funk performance considered “inappropriate” by the department during an official event and announced the dismissal of the director of the Department of Prevention and Promotion of Cheers, Andrey Lemos.

“Yesterday I became aware of an unacceptable fact, which caused great commotion in our society, linked to a demonstration that was part of the 1st Mobilization Meeting for Health Promotion in Brazil”, said Nísia in the video.

“At that moment, I was on an important agenda in the cities of Diadema and Mauá, in São Paulo. (…) At the same time, I began to determine responsibility for what happened. Today, given the seriousness of the incident, the Director of the Department of Prevention and Health Promotion, which took full responsibility for what happened.”

The minister apologized for what happened.

“Unfortunately, I was surprised by yesterday’s episode and I come, through this video, to apologize very sincerely for what happened and to reiterate the commitment of the Ministry of Health that its events reflect the conduct and guidance of the Ministry of Health and the government led by President Lula.”

She noted that the Ministry of Health, in a statement, regretted the episode and said it “vehemently” repudiated it. “We immediately created a curation to prevent similar circumstances from occurring in the next events in our department,” she added.

Earlier, members of Palácio do Planalto asked the Minister of Health to fire those responsible for the funk performance at the event.

The crisis began on Friday, one day after a group performed during the 1st Mobilization Meeting for Health Promotion in Brazil (Em Prova), promoted by the Department of Prevention and Health Promotion, subordinate to the Secretariat of Primary Care .

Videos circulating on social media show a woman dancing funk to the song “Batcu”, by Aretuza Lovi featuring Valesca Popozuda.

Opponents called the performance “erotic”, and government supporters agreed that the dance was inappropriate.

The event featured performances by seven artistic groups during breaks. The idea was to show that dance and other expressions of art are also a way to promote health.

There were performances, for example, of capoeira, samba and street dancing. It was in the latter that, at the end of the song, one of the members of the artistic group did the dance that went viral on the networks.

Andrey Lemos also danced at the event, which became the subject of controversy.

In a note also released on Saturday night, the Ministry of Health states that it took the necessary steps to dismiss the director, upon request.

“The Ministry of Health reinforces that the isolated episode does not reflect the department’s policy nor the purposes of the debate on health promotion held at the meeting. The event, linked to the Secretariat of Primary Health Care, aimed to support the implementation and management participatory approach to the National Health Promotion Policy based on the sharing of experiences between managers and workers from different states, with moments dedicated to cultural diversity.”