After criticism from the CFM president about masks, Anvisa says that decisions have scientific evidence

After criticism from the president of the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM), José Hiran da Silva Gallo, regarding the mandatory use of masks, the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) declared, this Tuesday (14), that its decisions are based on on the best scientific evidence, aligned with bodies such as the Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

“Anvisa, within the scope of its legal powers, bases its decisions on the best scientific evidence, in line with national and international reference bodies such as the Ministry of Health, WHO and PAHO,” the agency said in a note.

“We must not forget that there is still viral circulation, with the potential for the appearance of worrying variants. The Agency monitors the results of the epidemiological monitoring of Covid-19, associated with the moment in the country, in which there is greater movement of people and agglomerations under different conditions, due to the period of Carnival”, continued the agency.

Gallo stated that Anvisa’s measure “can never be imposed on people who do not share such ideologies or behaviors”. The statements were made in a document sent to the president of Anvisa, Antônio Barra Torres, dated Monday (13).

In the document, Gallo points to studies and publications that supposedly demonstrate the ineffectiveness of wearing masks as a way to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

At first, he says that it would be CFM’s duty “to assess the scientific knowledge available about the impact of adopting public health policies recommending or forcing the population to use face masks as a containment strategy for the Covid-19 pandemic”. And he says that the measure is “a subject still controversial”.

The chairman of the council also listed the studies that favored and unfavorable the widespread use of masks and concluded that: “there is no scientific evidence that the widespread and widespread use of masks in the community has any impact on the transmission of Covid-19. 19 or even reduced illness.”

For Anvisa, however, “it is necessary to be cautious and wait for the behavior of the disease and viral circulation during and after Carnival. It is worth remembering that these same publics still have low vaccination rates, and many have not yet completed the ideal vaccination cycle.”

He also points out that “in air transport, there are different groups of people, including the most vulnerable such as pregnant women, the elderly, children, people traveling for health treatments, immunodebilitated people, in close contact and in a closed environment.”

Finally, the agency explains “that the correct use of the mask is an act of individual and collective protection! In the same direction, Covid-19 vaccines are safe and protect against hospitalizations and deaths.”

(*Posted by Douglas Porto)