Panel SA: Anvisa’s decision waves to Lula with mandatory masks on flights

By re-determining the mandatory use of masks at airports and planes in Brazil, Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) chose to follow the understanding of specialists linked to the transition team and the president-elect, Lula, contrary to the opinion of its technical area. .

The decision took into account external positions, taken to the body in a meeting on the eve of the trial, whose score was four votes in favor of the measure, against one. The new rules came into effect this Friday (25).

On Monday (21), a group of 13 experts met with the entire board of the agency to discuss the epidemiological scenario in the country. At that meeting, according to the vote of director Alex Machado, who conducted the trial, everyone agreed that “the mandatory mask at this time is a public health measure of collective importance and that can mean, therefore, the minimization of the risks of contamination” .

Fiocruz, which is participating in the transition, was represented by its vice-president, Marco Aurelio Krieger. The foundation’s president, Nísia Trindade Lima, is one of the members of the team appointed by the elected government, in the area of ​​health.

The entity was cited in Machado’s vote for reinforcing the need to use masks in closed, crowded and poorly ventilated places.

Also present at the meeting was epidemiologist Ethel Maciel. Although she is not part of the transition team, she declared her vote for Lula and was also mentioned by Machado.

“In Brazil, medical entities and specialists have once again recommended the use of masks, especially in closed places and for people with comorbidities, in addition to the elderly. of masks in closed places”, said the director.

Anvisa’s resolution was decided despite a long report, with the opposite position, signed by the general manager of Ports, Airports, Borders and Customs Enclosures, Bruno Gonçalves Rios, in addition to the manager of Quality Management and Sanitary Risk at PAF, Camila Rediguieri, and two specialists in Health Regulation and Surveillance.

The group’s argument, endorsed by the director responsible for reporting the case, Daniel Pereira, involved mentions, among others, of the position of the United States government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which, since April of this year, no longer obliges the use of masks in means of transport, and the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which indicates that companies around the world adopt the policy they deem most appropriate, together with their employees.

The report also cites data on cases of covid-19 in Brazil to show that the current level of contamination is lower than that verified when Anvisa, on August 17, took the decision to suspend the mandatory use of masks on aircraft.

In its conclusion, Anvisa’s technical area did not suggest a return to the obligation, but only “altering the sound reports for greater emphasis on the use of face masks”, the mandatory disclosure, on the websites of airlines and tourism companies, of the recommendation for the use of masks, and the recommendation for Anvisa’s communication sector to reinforce the recommendation for the use of masks.

At the trial, only the director Daniel Pereira, rapporteur of the process, accepted the opinion of the technical area and was against the obligation. He has been in the car since August, after serving as executive secretary of the Ministry of Health in the Jair Bolsonaro government. Machado opened divergence and was joined in his vote by the other directors.

The decision came amid nods from the CEO of Anvisa, Antônio Barra Torres, to the transition team of the new government and a troubled history with the Bolsonaro government.

The morning after the approval of the resolution, Anvisa’s board met with the transition team at the CCBB (Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil) “for the first presentations and conversations about the work of our agency”, as the CEO said from Anvisa, Antônio Barra Torres, at the end of the agency’s meeting last Tuesday.

After the meeting, in an interview, Barra Torres stated that he hopes to have a “great relationship” with the new government. “My expectations are the best possible,” she said. The coordinator of the health working group, senator Humberto Costa (PT-PE), has already stated that the elected government will prioritize public tenders for Anvisa.

Companies are ‘up in the air’

The airlines say they will comply with the decision, but without a “stronger” resolution from Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency) they are left in a situation of uncertainty about various operational procedures.

Company executives want to distance themselves from the politicization of the subject, but privately claim that Anvisa’s resolution does not give them the power to bar a passenger who, for example, boards without a mask. Another doubt is what to do with foreigners, who fly with companies where the rules are different. For this, still according to these businessmen, it would be necessary for Anac to return with the pandemic protocols, for example. That is, the return of the obligation brought an impasse.

Julio Wiziack (interim) with Paulo Ricardo Martins and Diego Felix