The National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) postponed the discussion that could authorize the sale of self-tests for diagnosing dengue in Brazil, which would be discussed at the collegiate board meeting this Tuesday (19). A new date has not been announced and occurs amid the disease epidemic that already has more than 2.5 million probable cases according to the Ministry of Health.
The justification is that the sale of self-tests needs to be better discussed due to the compulsory notification of the disease, which could be affected by allowing people to test themselves at home.
Director Daniel Pereira justified the withdrawal by mentioning the need to continue “alignments” related to the topic with the Ministry of Health. He highlighted the importance of a public policy for this type of product, especially as it is a diagnosis of a disease of compulsory notification, as is the case with dengue.
Antonio Barra Torres, CEO of Anvisa, had already said that negotiations for the commercialization of self-tests for dengue fever were underway between the ministry and the agency. He highlighted the need for a public policy from the Ministry of Health to ensure that cases are adequately reported across the country.
“Dengue is a notifiable disease. It is necessary for there to be a public policy generated by the Ministry of Health in this sense and that includes, even in the case of self-testing – which the citizen himself can carry out – a mechanism for monitoring systems to be notified, so that one can accurately compute cases throughout Brazil”, he stated.
Marília Santini, general coordinator of Public Health Laboratories at the Ministry of Health, confirmed that there were meetings with Anvisa on the subject. She explained that the rapid test and self-test are basically the same device, differing only in the way they are conducted, the first being carried out by a healthcare professional and the second by the patient themselves.
Santini also highlighted that, unlike self-tests for Covid-19, which help to interrupt the transmission of the virus through isolation, self-tests for dengue fever do not play this role, as the disease is transmitted only through mosquito bites. Aedes aegypti.
Even so, negotiations between Anvisa and the Ministry of Health continue to define the next steps in relation to the commercialization of these products in the country.
According to the Ministry of Health’s Arbovirus Panel, 923 deaths from the disease have already been recorded and another 1,400 are under investigation. The Federal District leads dengue infection in the country, with an incidence rate that reaches 6,751 for each group of 100 thousand inhabitants.
Tags: Anvisa postpones decision sale dengue selftests epidemic
