The Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government has blocked the budget of sensitive areas of the Ministry of Health to prevent the spending ceiling from overflowing. Paste technicians fear cutting payments, patient care and the stoppage of pro-vaccine communication campaigns.
The biggest blockage in the folder, of R$ 194 million, was made at Farmácia Popular, which should limit the program to deliver medicines for chronic diseases, among other products, for free or with discounts.
The government also blocked BRL 224.6 million from various areas of Fiocruz, including research and assistance, in addition to the budget for building vaccine factories.
As shown to Sheetthe Ministry of Economy last week ordered the portfolio commanded by Marcelo Queiroga to block R$ 1.65 billion in discretionary expenses.
Saúde has already indicated R$ 988.5 million in various shares for the treasury. The blockade was made on Thursday (1st), according to a document obtained by the report.
The Health summit considers the blockade “drastic” and sees the use of extraordinary credits, outside the ceiling, as a way out. It also tries to prevent more funds from becoming unavailable, as the Economy had planned.
The Minister of the Civil House, Ciro Nogueira, has already sent to the TCU (Court of Accounts of the Union) a query about this possibility to pay expenses of the INSS (National Institute of Social Security). Members of Health also ask the government to negotiate with Congress the release of credits.
Queiroga assistants say that there is an expectation of unlocking part of the budget in the last weeks of the year. Therefore, they are changing payment dates and commitments.
The blockade also affects resources for indigenous health. R$ 16 million originally foreseen for the promotion, protection and recovery of this population were blocked.
This has an impact, for example, on the logistics for distributing medicines and supplies to indigenous peoples, in addition to investment in combating Covid-19 in the villages.
Health also indicated to the Economy that R$ 62 million of public utility advertising could be blocked. This resource includes funds for vaccination campaigns.
Investments aimed at communication campaigns against Covid-19 had R$ 15 million blocked.
The government still blocked BRL 9.63 million in funds for research, technological development and innovation aimed at combating the pandemic.
In addition, R$ 44.5 million of outpatient and hospital services are unavailable.
Last week, the government announced the blocking of over R$5.7 billion from the ministries’ 2022 budget to avoid exceeding the spending ceiling. The cut in Health is the result of this decision.
The spending ceiling is the rule that limits the growth of expenses to inflation variation. Blocking resources is mandatory for the government.
Throughout the year, the order was to block R$ 15.38 billion from the ministries, R$ 3.78 billion from Health.
Until now, most of the blockages in Health had reached the rapporteur’s amendments, called “RP9”. The new lock on the budget, however, had to be made on the discretionary budget of Health, that is, on expenses that feed programs considered strategic by the folder.
Asked about the blockade in Health, the Ministry of Economy sent the Sheet note on reduction of funds for the Ministry of Education. “The amount of the blockade may be reassessed due to supervening factors or changes in primary expenditure projections,” said the Economy in an excerpt from the response.
The Ministry of Health did not comment on the portfolio’s lack of funds.
The president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), is betting on the approval of the Transition PEC to exclude expenses with the Bolsa Família program from the spending ceiling and free up space for other government programs, such as in the area of Health.
The health working group in the transitional government of the president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), said last week that there is a scenario of chaos in the health of the country. One of the main demands of the transition is to reinforce the Health budget by R$ 22.7 billion in 2023 to guarantee the minimum functioning of public services.
Such as Sheet As shown, the Jair Bolsonaro government (PL) sent the Budget proposal for 2023 with a forecast cut of 42% in the discretionary funds of the Ministry of Health, used in the purchase of materials, equipment and for investments.
BLOCKING OF FUNDS AT THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH
Government blocks over R$ 988 million in strategic programs
- Popular Pharmacy: R$ 194 million blocked in the program that delivers medicines and products for free or with a discount
- Fiocruz: BRL 224.6 million blocked in various actions, such as research and patient care, in addition to the construction of vaccine factories
- Public utility advertising: BRL 62 million blocked for campaign dissemination actions, of which BRL 15 million was allocated to communication against Covid
- indigenous health: R$ 16.4 million blocked in actions to protect indigenous people and sanitation in villages
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