Brazilian House Holds Hearing on Anvisa Regulatory Authority
The Committee on Social Security and Family of Brazil's House of Representatives held a hearing on 9 May 2013 on the scope of regulatory authority of Brazil's National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) with one question in mind: Does Anvisa have too much regulatory authority?
The deputy director of Anvisa, Neilton Araújo, argued that several bills introduced in the Brazilian Congress to cut back the agency's regulatory authority would in fact be a setback for public health. The Federal Assistant Attorney, Victor Valencia, meanwhile argued that there is a need to have a public discussion about a proposed management model for regulatory agencies. He also underscored the need for harmonization of the legal framework in the area of health, given the differences between federal and state regulations in Brazil.
A representative of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Sandra Campos, pointed out that legislative inflation is an obstacle to the development of the health sector in Brazil, adding that the increasingly technical difficulties of understanding the entire regulatory framework has led to a profusion of lawsuits and divergent judicial judgments.
The public hearing was part of the Second Week of Sanitary Surveillance in the Congress.
By Louise Zornoza, RegLink News