Plasma PEC: disregard for the lives of the population and setback in public health – 10/05/2023 – Public Health

We witnessed in the Senate a sad turnaround in Brazilian public health. The Plasma PEC, approved this Wednesday (10) by a narrow margin of four votes, represents a serious setback in transforming the blood of our population into merchandise. This regrettable episode puts the lives of the entire population of the country at risk. As a doctor, deputy and citizen, I cannot help but express my deep concern and anger at this decision.

The Plasma PEC, formally known as Constitutional Amendment Project 10/2022, proposes that the private sector collect and process human plasma, allowing its commercialization and the production of its derivatives. This represents a direct attack on citizenship and the spirit of the 1988 Constitution, which wisely and clearly defined that the responsibility for the processing and distribution of blood and blood products in Brazil should be exclusive to the State, through the Unified Health System (SUS), guaranteeing also universal access to these biological inputs for all Brazilian people.

The PEC seeks to modify article 199 of the Federal Constitution, introducing a new paragraph that regulates the collection and processing of human plasma by the private sector. Despite appearing to be an advance in health technology research, it is, in reality, a worrying step towards the privatization of Brazilian healthcare. This agenda is defended by sectors that place profit above the well-being of the people.

Currently, Hemobrás (Brazilian Blood Derivatives and Biotechnology Company) is responsible for the processing and distribution of plasma and its derivatives, with a focus on the country’s self-sufficiency. The unit in Goiana (PB) is the largest in Latin America, processing 500 thousand liters of plasma per year. This would bring us closer to self-sufficiency and guarantee universal and free access to blood-derived medicines for SUS users.

But why, then, this desire to privatize plasma processing? The answer lies in the financial value of this market, which moves around 10 billion reais per year. The Plasma PEC transforms a part of the human body into merchandise, something morally unacceptable.

We remember that, before the 1988 Constitution, people were paid to donate blood (and plasma), in a Brazil marked by hunger and economic crisis. And during this period, the country faced a health crisis with the AIDS epidemic, caused in part by a lack of blood quality and control. Sociologist Betinho and his brothers Henfil and Francisco Mário were victims of this health tragedy.

The commodification and export of blood keeps us trapped in a neocolonial model that part of the Brazilian elite wants to perpetuate. Exporting plasma will not improve access to medicines and health technologies. To guarantee this, we need precisely the opposite: strengthen Hemobrás; guarantee investments in universities and scientific research; and, as always, defend the SUS.

Plasma is a commodity that must be protected, and blood donation is a fundamental pillar of access to health and the social principles of our society. We need more SUS, more strengthening of Hemobrás, to protect the integrity of the Brazilian population by the State, as it should be. We cannot accept that the lives of our people are treated as bargaining chips. Life is non-negotiable, and we will continue to fight by all possible means so that the blood of Brazilians is no longer fuel burned by the gears of capitalism.

**This is an opinion article. The view of the author or author does not necessarily express the opinion of the Institute of Health Policy Studies (IEPS).

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Ana Pimentel is a Federal Deputy for PT-MG. She is a medical advocate for the SUS, a university professor and public health researcher. He presides over the SUS Mixed Parliamentary Front and the Parliamentary Front in Defense of Vaccines and is part of the Parliamentary Front for the National Immunization Program, the general coordination of the Parliamentary Front to Combat STI/HUV, the Mixed Parliamentary Front for Education, among others .

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