São Paulo declares health emergency due to dengue – 03/18/2024 – Health

São Paulo City Hall declared a state of emergency due to the dengue epidemic. As of Wednesday (13), the city recorded 49,721 confirmed cases, a number that exceeds 414.1 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, according to data released in this Monday’s bulletin (18).

The decree will follow the recommendation of the WHO (World Health Organization), which considers that rates above 300 cases per 100,000 inhabitants indicate an epidemic situation. Eleven people have already died from dengue this year in the capital.

The declaration of emergency allows for the urgent use of risk prevention and containment measures for epidemics, outbreaks, emerging diseases and disasters, as defined by the Ministry of Health.

The management’s forecast is that the city will still reach the plateau (that is, when there is a stabilization of new records before the drop) of cases in April.

In an interview with journalists on Wednesday (13), Mayor Ricardo Nunes (MDB) announced a package of measures to reinforce the fight against the disease, which includes expanding opening hours in 80 AMAs (Outpatient Medical Care) until 10pm , the reinforcement of 3,200 health agents in the 32 sub-prefectures of the municipality and the support of 6,500 mothers already hired by the Operation Work Program who will help raise awareness about the fight against mosquitoes.

The state of São Paulo declared an emergency on March 5th. At the time, the acting Secretary of Health, Priscilla Perdicaris, stated that the objective was to facilitate the purchase of medical supplies and hiring of teams by municipalities. According to the ministry’s panel, the state has more than 234 thousand confirmed cases of the disease.

At least eight other states have already done the same, such as Acre, Goiás, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul and Amapá, in addition to the Federal District.

Among the capitals, Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Florianópolis (SC), Macapá (AP), Natal (RN) and Belo Horizonte (MG) also declared an epidemiological emergency due to the disease.

Brazil is facing an epidemic of the disease, with 1,684,781 probable cases of the disease and 513 confirmed deaths in 2024. The incidence rate already reaches 829.7 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.