Government evaluates appointing a pro-chloroquine doctor to Anvisa after clashes with Torres

President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) is looking for names to join the top of Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) and react to the dispute with the head of the regulatory body, Rear Admiral Antonio Barra Torres.

The idea is to nominate someone with a profile aligned with the government and in favor of Bolsonaro’s denialist banners for the post of director, which will become vacant in July, such as Hélio Angotti, a pro-chloroquine doctor who currently heads the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Secretariat. Health.

The name was put on the table in conversations by government officials in favor of the Covid kit. The proposal pleased the Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, who wants to remove Angotti from the portfolio, without getting into friction with the doctor, according to government officials.

President Bolsonaro’s nomination needs to be approved by the Senate, and the secretary encounters resistance in the center. Members of these parties say that Angotti’s chances of reaching Anvisa are slim.

A follower of the writer Olavo de Carvalho, Angotti is one of the leaders of the pro-chloroquine nucleus of the Ministry of Health, also integrated by secretary Mayra Pinheiro, known as “Captain Chloroquine”.

Last Friday (20), he rejected SUS treatment guidelines that contraindicated drugs such as hydroxychloroquine. The text had been prepared by specialists and approved by Conitec, a commission linked to Health that evaluates treatments in the public network.

To justify the rejection of the guideline, Angotti signed a note that contradicts scientific entities by pointing out the proven efficacy and safety of hydroxychloroquine for Covid. The same text says that the vaccine does not have these characteristics.

This text generated reaction and rejection from specialists and members of Anvisa itself.

Sought after, Saúde, Planalto and Angotti did not comment on the discussions for indication to Anvisa.

Interlocutors from the center say that the ideal is to nominate someone with a more discreet profile, who can get approval in the Senate without noise, instead of trying to feed the fight with Health.

Barra Torres was decisive in approving or vetoing suggested names within the government for the agency, but he will not participate in the discussions about the next vacancy. Government officials say these nominations arouse the interests of the government, Congress and the industry lobby.

The bet of the political wing of the government is that the nomination could serve, at most, to embarrass Barra Torres and please supporters of the president.

Previously an ally of Bolsonaro, the president of Anvisa started to lead decisions that displease the president, such as the approval for the use of Covid vaccine in children.

Bolsonaro threatened to expose the names of the agency’s servers and suggested that there were interests in the approval of immunizers. In response, Barra Torres demanded the president’s retraction.

Anvisa directors have five-year terms. The vacancy that will open in July is occupied today by doctor Cristiane Jourdan, who is trying to reappointment based on breaches of the new law on agencies.

Jourdan was an activist for phosphoethanolamine, the “cancer pill” and, before joining Anvisa, he even shared publications in defense of early treatment.

At the agency, he did not publicly defend ineffective drugs and supported the regulatory body’s reactions to Bolsonaro’s attacks. The chances of Jourdan getting a new term are also considered small by government officials.

Members of the center say it is too early to choose a name for the nomination, even though the Senate hearing could take place before July. A government official who follows the discussions recalls that several suggestions to the agencies were made hastily and did not succeed.

Barra Torres, for example, was the fourth nominee for the same vacancy — the first two names were also presented by former president Michel Temer (MDB).

In 2021, the government still gave up two suggestions to Anvisa, among them Roberto Dias, who would later end up exonerated from the position of director of Logistics at the Ministry of Health, amid investigations into alleged irregularities in the purchase of vaccines.

All five of Anvisa’s current directors were appointed by Bolsonaro, although the agency is now seen by the president as a political enemy.

Speculation about Angotti’s nomination reached Anvisa. Members of the body considered the idea a provocation, as the secretary has different positions from those defended by the current summit of the agency on topics such as vaccines and medicines for Covid.

Angotti has a good relationship with deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PSL-SP). Both participated in a government trip to Israel in 2021 to learn about an anti-Covid nasal spray. The secretary was also on social media broadcasts alongside President Bolsonaro.

Upon entering the government, in March 2021, Queiroga tried, but failed to remove Angotti from the top rank of Health.

The minister also reported discomfort with the secretary’s interventions in the debate on SUS treatments. That’s because Queiroga indicated the doctor and professor at USP Carlos Carvalho, against ineffective drugs, to coordinate the group of specialists that presented the opinion to Conitec.

But Angotti points out possible conflicts of interest in this group and asked the Presidency’s Public Ethics Commission to investigate the opinion that contraindicates the Covid kit, in addition to having rejected the text.

He also tries to exonerate the servant Vania Canuto from the command of Conitec, as she voted in favor of the guidelines prepared by experts. as showed the leaf, the secretary suggests the appointment of biologist Regis Bruni Andriolo to the post.

Since he took charge of Health, Queiroga has modulated his speech and has invested in the Bolsonarista agenda to hold on to the position. He has gone on to avoid the topic of the Covid kit, although he admits to colleagues that he sees no benefit in using these drugs.