The president stated, this Wednesday (18), that the government hopes to have the “summer with the least dengue fever in the history” of the country. The Chief Executive stated that the commitment to preventing the disease must be adopted by the entire society.
This Wednesday, the government presented the plan to combat dengue fever and other arboviruses, such as zika, chikungunya and oropouche fever. The strategy was presented at a press conference at Palácio do Planalto, with the participation of the Minister of Health,
“Nísia is very prepared and the Ministry of Health is preparing, and we want to see if we can anticipate (the fight) and, if God helps, we want to have the summer with the least dengue in the history of this country”, said Lula.
Regarding Lula’s statement, Nísia stated that the president launched a “challenge” for the government and the country. For her, Lula is “completely right” to have this goal, despite the projections not indicating this concrete reduction, but rather a trend of less severity than that recorded this year.
“The scenario study, as I said we have, does not indicate – in principle, everything has to be monitored – an absolute increase in cases in relation to what we experienced in 2024. (…) We will hardly have a summer with the lowest number of cases in history, but we must have this as a goal”, he said.
In the presentation, Lula also said that the government’s current focus is on short and medium-term actions. “What we want is to convey the idea that each Brazilian citizen is their own doctor when it comes to dengue care. We have to take care of our home”, declared Lula.
Action plan
The plan’s actions are divided into six axes: prevention, surveillance, vector control, organization of the assistance network, emergency preparedness, communication and community participation. The measures will be implemented by the Executive in partnership with states and municipalities.
“The objective is to reduce probable cases and the number of deaths,” said Nísia Trindade. She declared that, within the Department’s Budget, an investment of around R$1.5 billion is planned for all actions, such as the acquisition of vaccines and emergency ordinances.
According to the minister, what explains this year is climate change and the characteristics of the virus and the four serotypes, which is why the government decided to bring forward the presentation of the national plan.
According to the Ministry of Health, from January to August, there was a 300% increase in total cases compared to the same period last year.
Data from the Ministry of Health’s Arbovirus Monitoring Panel, updated on Tuesday (17), records 5,360 deaths from dengue in 2024. Another 1,867 deaths are under investigation to find out whether they are related to the disease. Probable cases exceed 6.5 million.
Among the measures foreseen in the plan is the “gradual incorporation” of vaccines against dengue, according to the manufacturers’ production. Another planned action is the joint effort for surgeries in children with Zika sequelae.
