“Vaccine is a child’s right”, says Nísia about Bolsa Família rule

The Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade, said today (6) that the new rules for accessing the Bolsa Família bring a benefit to the health of families. To receive the funds, mothers need to prove that their children are enrolled in school and their vaccination records are up to date. In addition, pregnant women should perform all basic prenatal exams. The minister classified the new rules as a necessity. “Vaccines are a child’s right”, she pointed out during a ceremony in Rio de Janeiro in which she and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva launched a national plan to reduce queues in the Unified Health System (SUS). Bolsa Família is a program aimed at low-income families. Created in 2003 in Lula’s first term, it will have a minimum value of R$ 600 in 2023. During the last government, commanded by Jair Bolsonaro, the program was replaced by Auxílio Brasil, in which such conditionalities were not imposed. In October last year, after Lula won last year’s elections, the resumption of counterparts was announced in interviews given by Senator Humberto Costa (PT), who was part of the new government’s transition team. At the ceremony held today, the president highlighted the change. “Bolsa Família is coming back and it’s coming back with something important. It’s coming back with conditions. First, [mães das] children up to six years old will receive an additional R$ 150 reais. Second, the children have to be in school. If they are not at school, the mother loses the aid. Third, children have to be vaccinated. If not, the mother loses the benefit”, said Lula. He criticized the previous government for lying about the effectiveness of vaccines and said it was necessary to combat ignorance. “What mother doesn’t take her child to get a vaccine against infantile paralysis? What mother doesn’t take her child to get vaccinated against measles, against rubella? I keep asking myself what kind of love is this that she doesn’t take care of her son at the most important moment. That is the moment that this child can be vaccinated to avoid having the most delicate disease of his life “, said the president. ′′ If they tell me to take 50 vaccines against covid-19, I take as many as necessary “, he added. This month, the federal government will start the schedule for the 2023 National Vaccination Program. According to Nísia Trindade, the Ministry of Health wants to carry out a broad movement for vaccination together with society. managers at various levels, the artists. It has to be a movement technically guided by the Ministry of Health, but a national movement with popular engagement”.

Agência Brasil