Extracts below from a Comment in The Lancet. Read online: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)00338-5/fulltext
On Jan 20, 2022, in an unprecedented move, the Brazilian Secretary for Science, Technology, and Innovation overrode the Brazilian guideline for COVID-19 outpatient treatment...The guideline, which recommended against the use of drugs without scientific proof of efficacy, such as hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, was finally approved by the National Committee for Health Technology Incorporation (CONITEC) in December, 2021...
Paradoxically, the anti-scientific decision against the guideline was taken by a secretary of science. The decision was accompanied by a long note of justification, which made use of epidemiological jargon to define a logic that clearly violated basic scientific principles...
Brazil has been an example of two opposite phenomena: the tendency of a populist government to undermine science, and the resistance of scientists under a strong democratic regimen that supports freedom of speech. We believe that with the support of the international scientific community, the latter will prevail.
CITATION: Brazil's COVID-19 guidelines: political hijack of public health
Luis C L Correia Cristina Sette, Marisa Santos, Carlos A S Magliano, Fotini S Toscas
Published: March 03, 2022 DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22)00338-5
Neil Pakenham-Walsh, HIFA Coordinator, neil@hifa.org www.hifa.org
