The governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), sanctioned this Tuesday night (31) a law that authorizes the free distribution of cannabidiol-based medicines in the state’s public health network. The law, authored by state deputy Caio França (PSB), is the first to be sanctioned by Tarcísio.
The medicines must have prior registration at the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) and will be distributed to patients with a medical report and prescription, in addition to a certificate proving that these people are unable to buy the medication.
The Secretary of State for Health will be responsible for implementing the guidelines, such as the registration of patients who will benefit from the law.
Cannabidiol-based medicines are used in treatments for people with autism, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and epilepsy, as well as rare diseases and syndromes.
During a press conference to announce the sanction of the law, Neide Martins, who is the mother of a child who has West syndrome, and obtained a court decision for the use of drugs, celebrated the sanction.
“We started using it in 2016. It was the light at the end of the tunnel. My son got better and today he is a happy child”, said the mother.
Cannabidiol is a substance extracted from the cannabis plant,
The importation of products with cannabidiol was approved by Anvisa in 2015. In São Paulo, before the law was sanctioned by Tarcísio de Freitas, patients could only get medication through a court decision. In addition to the bureaucracy, many did not have access, since the medicine costs, on average, R$ 1,500.
“It is not fair that families have access to the medication and others do not,” said the author of the law, Caio França (PSB), at a press conference this Tuesday.
The bill was inherited by the administration of Tarcísio from the previous government, Rodrigo Garcia (PSDB), and faced a lot of resistance in the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo, mainly from the conservative base. The governor stated that the important thing “is that SP will have a public policy aimed at delivering this medication”, stated Tarcísio.
Source: CNN Brasil
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