Former deputy Ottaci Nascimento, from Solidariedade de Roraima, last week charged the Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade, for the execution of parliamentary amendments that he indicated in 2022. In two documents sent to the minister, Nascimento said that one of the projects stopped deals with the fight against dengue, amid the outbreak of the disease in several states.
“The bureaucratic slowness of some sectors of the ministry negligently hinders the application of public policy,” wrote Ottaci Nascimento, who was a federal deputy from 2019 to 2022. The letters were sent to the Minister of Health on January 29th and February 1st.
Part of the public funding designated by Nascimento in 2022 seeks to implement the “Educa-Arbo” project, aimed at educating and raising awareness among the population about the prevention of arboviruses. Arboviruses are diseases caused by viruses transmitted mainly by mosquitoes, such as dengue fever. “Such a situation is not acceptable, given the current crisis we are experiencing in the country”, stated the former deputy.
On Saturday (3/2), Nísia Trindade stated that there is a “dengue epidemic at a local level”, citing the Federal District, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Acre and Minas Gerais. “It is not a disease for us to become unstructured”, said the minister.
The most affected federation unit is the Federal District, where the number of probable dengue cases soared by 920%. The government confirmed six deaths from the disease, and is investigating another 24. Five states and the DF register increases of more than 500% in cases, compared to last year.
When contacted, the Ministry of Health stated that the “financial release” of the amendments indicated by the deputy depends on the benefiting entities carrying out a “bidding process”. The ministry said that it technically approved all of the R$16 million indicated.
“The ministry committed [reservou] more than 93% (R$14.89 billion) of the total parliamentary amendments scheduled for 2023, with 79.4% paid (R$12.5 billion). It is one of the highest performing folders”, he added.