President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Thursday (17) that weight-loss injection pens will be offered free of charge through SUS, Brazil's universal public health system. He made the statement during a visit to pharmaceutical company Eurofarma's new industrial complex in Montes Claros, in the state of Minas Gerais, according to Folha de S.Paulo. The announcement came on the same day the government confirmed a 15.04% increase in Bolsa Família, the country's main cash-transfer program, which will see its minimum payment rise from R$ 600 to R$ 691, according to G1.
"What matters is that this little pen will be used to treat people who have obesity for free, right?", Lula said in his speech. A report by Estadão, republished by InfoMoney, records the same remark in a slightly different version and adds: "When the doctor detects that a man or a woman has a problem to be treated."
What is confirmed and what is not
What is confirmed so far is the presidential statement and the setting in which it was made. According to Folha, Lula did not specify which medication will be offered, which patients will be eligible, when the measure will take effect or what it will cost. Estadão adds that the president also did not say whether distribution would happen in this term or in a possible fourth one. There is, for now, no clinical protocol, target population, calendar or budget on record. The point Lula did repeat was the need for medical supervision: "First, Padilha, you have to do me a favor. With the doctors, we need an agreement with the doctors, because we cannot have pens being prescribed left and right", he said, addressing Health Minister Alexandre Padilha.
The remarks came 17 days before the first round of the presidential election. Folha notes that Lula is running for reelection statistically tied with Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) in the polls, and the newspaper placed the speech among the popular-appeal announcements of the campaign's final stretch, such as a proposal to raise the annual revenue cap for individual microentrepreneurs to up to R$ 140,000. At the same event, the president defended the public health system: "They never took into account how many people the SUS saved; they only announced the people who died, to create a negative image."
What to do for now
Because the measure has no announced date or criteria, the treatment cannot be sought today at health units. People living with obesity can seek regular follow-up at their neighborhood basic health unit. It is worth following the guidance the president himself stressed: these medications, when they exist in the public network, should be used only with a prescription and medical supervision. Since the program has no announced start, any informal offer of a "SUS pen" for sale should be checked with the public network before any payment.