Candidates running for the second round of elections almost do not mention actions to support the SUS (Sistema Único de Saúde), to assist people with long-term Covid and to prevent future epidemics.
The analysis, carried out by researchers from the Solidarity Research Network, from the Department of Political Science at USP and the Covid-19 BR Observatory, compared the government plans of the two presidential candidates, current president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and former president. president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), and candidates for state governments with regard to health policies.
The note also compared each of the topics with what is considered ideal by experts — for example, increasing the number of public laboratories trained to carry out surveillance of emerging diseases.
Other policies rarely or not mentioned are access to medicines to treat severe cases of Covid, such as Paxlovid, and the resumption of services that were dammed during the pandemic. Prioritizing vaccination is mentioned only in Lula’s and Haddad’s government plans.
As a result, the scientists saw that 3 of the 6 points analyzed are included in Lula’s government plan, although some of the actions do not present details on how to execute them. Bolsonaro does not cite any of the six points on his platform.
In the comparison between the states, despite having analyzed the 12 states that will have a second round, the researchers only included in the note the proposals of the candidates in São Paulo because they are the most contrasting. Candidate Fernando Haddad (PT), former mayor of São Paulo, included 5 of the 6 planned actions, while Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), former minister in the Bolsonaro government, presented only 2 of 6.
For Lorena Barberia, researcher at the Department of Political Science at USP and first author of the study, the almost total absence of actions to prevent epidemics and care for Covid clashes with the global consensus. “If an extraterrestrial came today and lands in Brazil, he would have the impression that we have not experienced anything in the pandemic. It is an election in which most plans do not propose to think about the best way to avoid a future epidemic”, he says.
Also according to her, the absence in government plans both at national and state level of actions to strengthen the SUS and resumption of dammed care reflects a historical deficiency of health as a priority agenda in the political debate. “It is important to emphasize that, despite having the SUS, it was not enough in the pandemic to deal with the challenges and problems. The lack of investment and policies in this sector will create even more difficulties in the coming years, regardless of the elected government. “, he reflects.
One of the authors of the study, Tatiane Moraes, who is also a researcher at Fiocruz, reinforces this view. “If we don’t have a proposal, it’s like saying we haven’t learned any lessons [com a pandemia]that the response was good, which is not true”, he says.
The researchers cite some of the points that need special attention, such as the acquisition and prioritization of vaccination campaigns against Covid, the cut in the health budget this year compared to the first two years of the pandemic and the lack of coordinated action to resume medical care. “The pandemic put pressure on all services, the number of preventable deaths in Brazil was huge, and this is not reflected in the government’s plans”, says Moraes.
In the case of care, there is still an aggravating factor, which is the exhaustion of health teams, who suffered not only psychologically, but also had a reduction in the number of professionals, many affected by Covid itself.
The note also highlights Haddad’s government plan, which is the only one to mention, in detail, a plan for prioritizing surveillance actions for future emergencies, with articulation between the Health, Science and Technology secretariats and research institutions.
Other side
The report sought out the press offices of the Bolsonaro and Lula campaigns.
The one of the current president of the Republic did not respond to the report until the publication of this text.
The former president’s voice was expressed through a note. Regarding the articulation, he said that the Ministry of Health will once again coordinate the national health system, strengthening the single management by the three spheres of government.
Regarding epidemiological surveillance, Lula’s plan provides for the creation of a national network for the control and surveillance of diseases and health emergencies, the strengthening of the existing network (VigiAR) and partnerships with states, municipalities, research institutes and public laboratories.
Regarding the treatment of serious cases and deaths, he said that he will organize access to health services and hospital services of the SUS, in addition to training primary care teams. As for the prioritization of vaccination, the idea announced is to recover high vaccine coverage, including four doses of vaccine against Covid above 95%.
Competitors for the government of São Paulo also manifested themselves through a note.
Tarcísio’s campaign said it foresees the creation of a center for disease control and quality of care and the implementation of a system to monitor and combat epidemics and pandemics. This, he added, will require investing in replacing outdated technologies, computerizing data collection services and encouraging the qualification of service providers.
Regarding vaccines, which he defined as “one of the most cost-effective interventions in public health”, he promised to carry out campaigns and make available to the population all the vaccines included in the National Immunization Program (PNI).
For the management of the health system, the ex-minister’s campaign said that it will lead a process of convincing and building “a cooperative regionalization in the state, renegotiating funding with the Union and municipalities” and that it wants to multiply assistance networks and improve regional coordination, focusing on primary care and family health.
Haddad’s campaign stated that it intends to agree with municipalities, in January, actions such as joint efforts and investment in telehealth to accelerate access to consultations, exams and surgeries dammed during the pandemic. In addition, he stated that in the first months, he will restructure access to specialized care.
The former mayor’s plan also includes the intention to implement 70 day hospitals (60 of them in the countryside), to establish partnerships between the state and municipal networks, university hospitals and Santas Casas and to implement a regional transport system. to care for patients and their companions.
As for the management of the system, PT’s campaign stated that the partnership with the cities will take place through institutional support and investment in the training and education of municipal management and assistance teams. He also mentioned, among others, the ideas of progressively raising the value of the state basic care floor and co-financing Samu.
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