The Ministry of Health will ask the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) to release the Covid-19 self-test for the population. The apparatus, which is already used in European countries, can be approved in Brazil, but with guidelines for the population, as he explained to CNN, this Tuesday (11), the cardiologist and intensivist Ludmila Hajjar.
For the doctor, Anvisa must authorize the use of the self-test in the face of the “explosion of cases” of Covid-19, however, she defends an orientation aimed at the population, in order to teach about the use and, mainly, about the notification of cases. positive.
“With the self-test we want to increase the possibility of diagnosis for the population. For self-testing to be safe, we first need to teach the population, self-testing is simple by definition. The important thing is to have it released, approved, but that it trains the population”, he says.
Luciana Hajjar exemplifies that the self-test is already used in Europe and reiterates that its use is very simple.
“The patient takes the cotton swab, puts it in the nose, puts it in a tube, drips the reagent and in a few minutes the result comes out”, he says.
According to Rodrigo Cruz, executive secretary of the Ministry of Health, the authorization of the self-test for the diagnosis of the disease can be another tool to be used against the spread of the Ômicron variant. The folder will send the agency a technical note requesting that Anvisa carry out an assessment on the matter.
“In the face of a pandemic, it is possible, yes, that Anvisa will release the self-test. Brazil has to choose a path, pricing has to be low, the solution is good, and what to do with the symptomatic, how will Brazilians notify the case? My suggestion is to wait for a responsible approval by our regulatory bodies, which teaches and trains the population, and teaches how to notify so that we are aware of these cases”, added Hajjar.
* Produced by Layane Serrano
Reference: CNN Brasil
