Pro-chloroquine biologist is quoted to assume commission that evaluates SUS treatments

In a new move to undermine guidelines against the use of the Covid kit in the SUS, the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government is considering appointing biologist Regis Bruni Andriolo to head Conitec, an agency linked to the Ministry of Health that evaluates treatments in the public network.

The request for a change in command of the collegiate was made by Secretary Hélio Angotti Neto, a subordinate of Minister Marcelo Queiroga.

If confirmed, the change takes place at a time when the ministry is blocking the publication of opinions that contraindicate the use of ineffective drugs for Covid, such as hydroxychloroquine.

These texts were approved in June and December 2021 by Conitec, but the publication of the guidelines is being postponed by the Ministry of Science and Technology, led by Angotti, to avoid a stain on the denialist banners of the Bolsonaro government.

The commission is today headed by servant Vania Cristina Canuto, who voted in favor of the Covid anti-kit texts. As a reaction, Angotti has already asked for her dismissal from the position of director of DGITIS (Department of Management and Incorporation of Health Technologies), the area that commands Conitec.

Queiroga signaled to colleagues that he would not fire Canuto, but the minister’s assistants believe that the servant’s departure gained strength after he and Angotti recorded a video together on the 7th. Covid kit, and follower of writer Olavo de Carvalho.

When contacted, the ministry did not respond to the appointment of Andriolo and only said that Canuto currently heads Conitec.

In addition to supporting treatment with drugs such as hydroxychloroquine, Andriolo signed a note against mandatory vaccination against Covid-19. It still advises the government in discussions about vaccination, including for children, according to authorities who follow the matter.

The biologist is a professor at the Department of Community Health at UEPA (University of the State of Pará).

Andriolo was contacted by the report, but did not respond until the publication of this text.

He is close to the secretary of the Ministry of Health Mayra Pinheiro, known as “captain chloroquine”, and to Angotti. In May 2021, he helped Pinheiro prepare for the Covid CPI.

In a video that leaf had access, she asks Andriolo to prepare some questions so she can send them to the senators to ask her.

Pinheiro asked the researcher if there was a study that would serve as a “silver bullet” to prove to the CPI the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin.

In response, in the video, Andriolo replied: “That’s right. Where’s the early study, right? That’s the problem. There isn’t. So, there’s no such study”.

Andriolo, Pinheiro and Angotti participated in the conversation that preceded the secretary’s visit to the CPI. On the same occasion, she suggested that she could get a position as a biologist in Health, even though he had not signaled whether or not he was interested in working in the folder.

According to government officials, Andriolo is part of a group of researchers pro-early treatment that advises the Ministry of Health. He also prepared opinions to the Public Ministry in favor of the use of these drugs.

The biologist even took part in discussions of the working group that produced the opinion to Conitec that contraindicates the Covid kit, but asked to leave this debate after the release of the video guiding the “Captain Chloroquine”.

It also participated in a public hearing held at Conitec to hear experts on the outpatient treatment of Covid.

The debate took place even after the collegiate rejected the use of the “Covid kit” for patients with suspected or diagnosed Covid. Medications such as chloroquine and ivermectin are not effective against the disease.

“The current studies, which are the best, still have problems. All of them are against hydroxychloroquine,” Andriolo said at the hearing.

The guideline on hospital treatment was approved in June at Conitec. The opinion on outpatient management, that is, for mild cases, was accepted in December, after an impasse and the government’s attempt to implode the debate.

Authorities who follow the work of Conitec assess that the change of command is another move by the government to empty the discussions that contraindicate the Covid kit.

These same sources estimate that the pro-chloroquine group can redo the vote in the collegiate and try to turn the score around on the opinion of the Covid treatment guideline in the SUS.

In December, the vote that rejected the Covid kit had a tight score, from 7 to 6. The score could be reversed with the withdrawal of Canuto and appointment of a name aligned with the government.

Another way would be to reject Conitec’s opinion. The first decision of this kind can be taken by Angotti, who heads the Science and Technology area. In this case, if there is an appeal, the final decision rests with Minister Marcelo Queiroga.

In charge of Conitec, the biologist would also have the power to ask the SUS for technology assessment. These analyzes are carried out by technical centers linked to universities.

The maneuvers may have limited effect, say government officials, as Minister Ricardo Lewandowski, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), gave until the end of January for the Ministry of Health to present a guideline and protocol for the treatment of Covid, in an action presented by the Ministry of Health. MDB party

In addition to postponing the publication of the guidelines, Angotti called the CEP (Public Ethics Commission), a body linked to the Presidency of the Republic, to investigate the opinion approved by the collegiate.

To the take over the Ministry of Health, in March 2020, Queiroga announced that he would promote the debate at Conitec to end the discussion on the use of the Covid kit.

He indicated the physician and professor at USP Carlos Carvalho, contrary to ineffective drugs, to organize a group that would prepare the opinions.

queries, however, modulated the speech and has invested in the Bolsonarista agenda to hold on to the position. He began to avoid the topic of the Covid kit, although he admits to colleagues that he does not see benefits in the use of these drugs.