PSDB administration in Minas Gerais loses 6 million doses of medicine.
Approximately 6 million tablets of over 100 types of medication, purchased by the Minas Gerais state government during the PSDB administration, will have to be incinerated due to their expiration date. According to the Minas Gerais government, the medications were intended for hospitals and health centers in the state's interior to supplement the basic list of free medications available in the Unified Health System (SUS).
From Agência Brasil - Approximately 6 million tablets of over 100 different types of medication, purchased by the Minas Gerais government during the PSDB administration, will have to be incinerated because they have expired and become unfit for consumption. The medications were not distributed during the terms of Antônio Anastasia (PSDB, 2011-2014) and Alberto Pinto Coelho (PP, 2014). An investigation by the newspaper Estado de Minas revealed that the medications were stored in Contagem, and some of them date back to March of last year.
These are capsules containing Simvastatin, used to treat high blood pressure; Dipyrone, used for fever and pain; Mebendazole, for intestinal worms; and Gliclazide, for diabetes. According to the Belo Horizonte newspaper, they are valued at R$ 13 million.
The State Health Secretariat of the current administration, under Fernando Pimentel (PT), stated that it will investigate the case and that, initially, the non-distribution occurred due to non-compliance with stock rules by the consortium that handled the logistics of the medicines, in addition to other problems related to sanitary regulations. Similar problems, resulting from a lack of care by the logistics company, have already been recorded in other regions of the state, such as in Juiz de Fora, in the Zona da Mata region of Minas Gerais, where medicines delivered to the City Hall were found in poor storage conditions in a warehouse in the city center.
According to the Minas Gerais government, the medications would be destined for hospitals and health centers in the interior of the state, to supplement the basic list of free medicines in the units of the Unified Health System (SUS). According to the Superintendent of Pharmaceutical Assistance of the Health Secretariat, Homero Filho, the government is reviewing the processes for distributing supplies to the interior and will analyze the contract with the company that won the bid from the previous administration.
The former Secretary of State for Health, now state representative Antônio Jorge de Souza Marques (PPS), told Estado de Minas that this operation of acquiring and distributing medications is subject to the possibility of some of the material being lost. According to the legislator, it is acceptable that something around 2% to 5% of the stored supplies could be lost.