Secretary of the Ministry of Health asks the Presidency’s body to investigate the antichloroquine opinion

The Secretary of Science, Technology and Strategic Inputs at the Ministry of Health, Helio Angotti, asked the CEP (Public Ethics Commission), a body linked to the Presidency of the Republic, to investigate an opinion that contraindicates the use of drugs from the “Covid kit” in the SUS .

Angotti’s target document was prepared by a group of experts and presented to Conitec (National Commission for the Incorporation of Technology in the SUS).

as revealed to sheet, the pro-chloroquine wing of the folder led by Marcelo Queiroga is trying to implode this committee’s discussion to keep room for the use of ineffective treatments.

To request the investigation, Angotti relied on a text signed by 5 of the 7 representatives of Health at Conitec. They had asked to “abort” the publication of guidelines against the application of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, among other “early treatment” drugs, for mild cases (outpatients) by Covid.

In an official letter obtained by sheet, the secretary asks the ethics committee to “find out the facts pointed out” by the group of defenders of chloroquine and “adopt the measures deemed pertinent”.

The mobilization to stop the debate at Conitec was endorsed by Angotti and displeased minister Queiroga, according to government officials. The Ministry of Health was contacted, but did not manifest itself until the end of the text.

Amid the boycott attempt, Conitec called an extraordinary meeting to discuss this Tuesday (7) Covid’s guidelines for handling mild cases. In October, the vote on the text against ineffective drugs ended in a tie.

The group that defends early treatment claims that the opinion taken to Conitec is “rise with procedural, technical and methodological flaws that seriously harm the basic precepts of evidence-based medicine”.

The five members of the ministry ask for Angotti’s intervention in the debate “to guarantee the correctness of the process”, as well as the replacement of the group of specialists who prepared the opinion that contraindicated the “Covid kit”.

In another excerpt, they say that the group of experts who drafted the opinion, which includes AMB (Brazilian Medical Association), SBI (Brazilian Society of Infectology), among other entities, is formed by entities that have shown themselves “repeatedly” against the “medical autonomy”.

“It is urgent that the initiative to establish centralized recommendations for the whole country is immediately aborted, due to potential individual clinical and epidemiological damage, as well as for education and research in health”, says the note signed by the pro-chloroquine wing of the Ministry of health.

Physician and follower of Olavo de Carvalho, secretary Angotti is a leader in the defense of the “Covid kit”, a speech reinforced by secretary Mayra Pinheiro, known as “chloroquine captain”.

Queiroga tried, but he didn’t have the political strength to dismiss Angotti when he assumed the command of Saúde.

Angotti’s decision to ask for the investigation was seen by members of Saúde and Conitec as a way for the secretary to make clear to Bolsonaro his pro-chloroquine position. They also believe that the gesture is against the minister himself, as the document prepared by Conitec questions the method of choosing the specialists who prepared the opinion.

The request for an investigation into the Conitec discussion, signed by the secretary, was forwarded on December 2nd to Antonio Carlos Vasconcellos Nóbrega, president of the ethics committee.

Made up of seven members chosen by the President of the Republic, the ethics commission evaluates, among other points, possible ethical violations and conflicts of interest of federal administration employees.

Angotti states that the document from the pro-chloroquine wing “lists some facts that, supposedly, weaken the process of elaboration of the Brazilian Guidelines for the Outpatient Drug Treatment of Patients with Covid-19 and its publication”.

Conitec makes recommendations on SUS treatment protocols and guidelines. The final decision on whether to incorporate a drug into the public network or whether or not to indicate a treatment rests with the Ministry of Health.

Even without decision-making power, the commission’s speech could represent a heavy blow to President Bolsonaro’s denial banners. The discussion was opened at Conitec at the request of Queiroga, who also authorized the formation of the group of specialists.

​The opinion was put under analysis by the collegiate on October 21st. The vote ended in a draw, with the Ministry of Health split. In addition to the five votes from the pro-chloroquine wing, the CFM (Federal Council of Medicine) rejected the opinion.

On the other hand, two Health Secretariats, Conass (council of state secretaries), Conasems (council of municipal secretaries), CNS (National Health Council) and ANS (National Health Agency) were in favor of the text that contraindicates the “Covid kit” Additional).

The representative of Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) would vote in favor of the opinion, but was not present at the time of the decision.

After the vote, the opinion was submitted to public consultation between 16 and 25 November. More than 20,000 demonstrations were made for and against the report. Other documents related to Covid-19 had a maximum of 60 contributions.

The high turnout reflected the mobilization of pro-“kit Covid” groups. Conitec began evaluating a protocol on Covid-19 in the SUS at the request of Minister Queiroga.

Upon entering the folder, in March, he asked for a standardization on the topic. The idea was to end disputes over the use or not of ineffective drugs.

Queiroga, however, has been modulating the discourse and investing in the pocketbook agenda. He has gone on to avoid the topic of the “Covid kit,” even though he admits to colleagues that he sees no benefit in using these drugs.