City with the largest batch of Trump’s chloroquine tries to return stock to Health

by

The municipality of Joinville (SC) received in September 2020 the largest share of the hydroxychloroquine cargo donated to Brazil by Donald Trump, former president of the United States.

The plan was to supply the local “early treatment center”, but 130,500 of the 160,000 pills delivered in September 2020 remain stranded. The prefecture tries to return the stock to the Ministry of Health.

Despite the efforts of the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government to promote the use of drugs without proven effectiveness for Covid, Joinville is not the only city that asked to receive hydroxychloroquine and now faces unused batches, valid until October.

In January 2021, the newly sworn-in mayor of Porto Alegre, Sebastião Melo (MDB), announced the relaxation of restrictions against Covid and decided to bet on the Covid kit.

The capital of Rio Grande do Sul asked for and received 24,000 units of chloroquine from the Bolsonaro government, delivered 10 pills and suspended the offer after a court decision. More than a year later, the city continues with the stock and claims to try to return the drug to Health.

The Ministry of Health told the report that it advises municipalities to seek state governments to pass on hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of diseases provided for in the package insert, such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

The US government sent 3 million hydroxychloroquine pills to Brazil after a diplomatic effort by the Bolsonaro administration. The drug began to arrive in June 2020 and became the president’s bet to fight the pandemic by the end of that year.

In the period before the health crisis, the government had dumped chloroquine (a drug with a similar effect, but different composition) into the SUS, made in the Army Laboratory or diverted from the malaria program.

The Ministry of Health kept 2 million doses of the cargo donated by the US. Of this volume, it delivered 600,000 to states and municipalities that asked for the drug against Covid and, without new demands related to the pandemic, it had to allocate 1.4 million to diseases provided for in the package insert.

as showed the sheet, the Army, which had 1 million doses, still has 745,000 units. The rest had been sent to military hospitals to fight Covid-19.

After Joinville, the government of Amazonas (120,000 units) and the city of São Paulo Presidente Prudente (100,000) received the largest batches of hydroxychloroquine donated by Trump. When contacted, local governments did not inform whether there is still stock of the drug.

The fourth largest batch, of 63 thousand units, was given to Lages (SC), which said it still had 57 thousand doses. “We have already requested the return to the ministry, but we have not yet received a return”, said the Municipal Health Department, in a note.

Grupo Hospitalar Conceição received 19,500 units of this hydroxychloroquine in September 2020. The body linked to the Ministry of Health that manages hospitals in RS says that it no longer keeps this stock: 8,000 units were sent to the government of Paraíba and 8,500 to the Rio de Janeiro.

In January 2021, after being criticized for bringing ineffective drugs to Amazonas, when the state was collapsing due to lack of oxygen, former Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello went on to say that he never encouraged the use of these drugs.

The government of Joinville has been saying since March 2021 that it has been trying to return the drug to Health.

The last batch of hydroxychloroquine donated by the US was distributed by the ministry against Covid-19 in April 2021, to Presidente Prudente (SP). Afterwards, the folder only delivered the drug for other diseases.

Even ending the spread of the Covid kit in the SUS, the government postpones the approval of pandemic treatment guidelines that contraindicate these drugs.

In January, Health barred the proposal for a guideline prepared by experts and approved by the (National Commission for the Incorporation of Technologies in the SUS), it also argued, in a technical note, that hydroxychloroquine works and the vaccine does not.

Minister Marcelo Queiroga has a request to review this decision and approve the directive. The government also fears opening room for disputes about the actions taken in the pandemic, if this text is accepted.

The cargo sent by the US arrived in Brazil divided into tubes with 100 pills. The government needed approval from Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) to divide the drug into smaller boxes and passed on the cost of the operation to states and municipalities that asked for the drugs.

The distribution of medicines still became the target of investigations by control bodies, the MPF (Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office) and actions in the STF (Supreme Federal Court). The stimulus to the Covid kit was cited in requests for indictment made by the Covid CPI in the Senate. To evade punishment, the Bolsonaro government also modulated its discourse.

HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE FROM TRUMP BEACHES IN BRAZIL

USA donated 3 million units; municipalities try to return lots and Saúde started to deliver drugs to other diseases

  • Ministry of Health received 2 million units and delivered 600 thousand to Covid. With no new demands, it allocated 1.4 million doses to diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
  • Joinville (SC), received 160,500 doses, the largest batch sent by Saúde to combat Covid, and still has 130,500; other municipalities, such as Porto Alegre (RS) and Lages (SC) are also trying to return the stock that expires in October
  • Army received 1 million pills, sent about 225 thousand to military hospitals for the pandemic and stocks another 775 thousand units

You May Also Like

Recommended for you