The Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) of the Senate approved this Wednesday (4), by 15 votes against 11, the proposed amendment to the Constitution (PEC) that allows the commercialization of human plasma, which is one of the components of blood . Currently, the Constitution prohibits the commercialization of human organs, tissues or substances. The topic will now be analyzed by the Senate plenary.
The approved PEC excludes plasma from the commercialization prohibition defined by Article 199 of the Constitution and establishes that “the Law will provide for the conditions and requirements for the collection, processing and commercialization of human plasma by public and private initiatives, to purposes of laboratory use, development of new technologies and production of blood-derived medicines intended to preferentially provide the SUS”.
The CCJ session began with the presentation of a separate vote by senator Marcelo Castro (MDB-PI), who suggested allowing the commercialization not of plasma, but of plasma processing services. The alternative PEC presented by Castro subjected this service to “specific authorization from the Ministry of Health”.
“I think my amendment is more reasonable, because it allows the industrialization, processing and commercialization of blood products; it just doesn’t allow the sale of human blood – that’s the only difference” defended the senator.
In her opinion, the PEC rapporteur, senator Daniella Ribeiro (PSD-PB), denied the change suggested by Castro. “We believe that the requirement for authorization from the Ministry of Health for the private sector to operate excessively limits its production capacity, having the potential to deter investment”, she highlighted.
