Brazil establishes committee to reduce socially determined diseases

Brazil’s federal government has launched the Interministerial Committee for the Elimination of Tuberculosis and other Socially Determined Diseases, such as malaria, viral hepatitis, schistosomiasis, and Chagas, which affect a part of the most vulnerable population in the country. Under the coordination of the Ministry of Health, representatives from eight other ministries will participate in this initiative.

During the committee’s official inauguration at the headquarters of the Pan-American Health Organization in Brasília on Tuesday (Jun. 6), Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade, emphasized the link between these diseases and the limited access to healthcare services. She stated, “Endemic diseases persist in our country due to persistent inequality.”

The Ministry of Health has outlined several key objectives for the committee. These include the elimination of the transmission of congenital Chagas disease and syphilis during pregnancy, as well as a focus on combatting hepatitis B and HIV.

Goals

The Brazilian government has committed to the World Health Organization’s targets, aiming to reduce the incidence of tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS by 2030. For tuberculosis, the goal is to decrease the incidence of the disease to fewer than ten cases per 100,000 inhabitants and reduce the number of annual deaths to less than 230.

Regarding HIV/AIDS, the government aims to achieve the following targets by 2030: diagnose 95 percent of people living with HIV, ensure 95 percent of those diagnosed are receiving treatment, and have 95 percent of those receiving treatment maintain a controlled viral load. Currently, it is estimated that one million people in Brazil are living with the virus, of which 900 thousand are aware of their diagnosis.