Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC) and the Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science (SBPC), released on Sunday, June 7, a note against the government's concealment of Covid-19 data. By Monday morning, 8/6, the document had been signed by more than 60 entities and institutions across the country.
The document was sent to the Ministry of Health (MS), the Secretariat of Science, Technology and Strategic Inputs of the Ministry of Health (SCTIE) of the MS, the National Council of Municipal Health Secretariats (Conasems), the National Council of Health Secretaries (Conass) and the National Health Council (CNS).
Read the full letter:
NOTE FROM THE BRAZILIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES AND THE BRAZILIAN SOCIETY FOR THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE ON THE HIDDENING OF COVID-19 DATA
On the night of Friday, June 5, 2020, access to the federal government portal that publishes daily COVID-19 data was removed. The aforementioned portal was reopened on Saturday, June 6, 2020, containing reduced information, with the justification for adopting a new system for counting cases and deaths caused by the disease.
The Government's attitude in not revealing pandemic data allows the manipulation of information about the evolution of COVID-19 in the country and prevents the monitoring and containment of the disease that has affected hundreds of thousands of Brazilians. A scenario of misinformation contributes to the population feeling abandoned to their own devices. The hiding of data also harms the planning for the return of activities and movement of people, impacting economic planning for exiting the recession, and harms Brazil's image abroad.
Epidemiological data are fundamental to this planning and impact not only knowledge of the evolution of the disease in the country, but also abroad, as they are collected by institutions such as the traditional John Hopkins University in the United States and Imperial College in the United Kingdom. The omission of data on the pandemic is unacceptable.
It is, therefore, essential and urgent that transparency and clarity in the dissemination of data be reestablished, in real time, for the entire population and for the world, a necessary condition for confronting this terrible pandemic. Only in this way will it be possible, based on scientific analysis based on reliable data, to overcome the crisis and reduce the number of victims.
We repudiate any omission or misrepresentation of data relating to COVID-19. Subtracting and manipulating data does not change reality. And they do not alleviate the burden of thousands of deaths on those who prefer fiction to action, abdicating their duty to protect the health of the population.
Rio de Janeiro, June 7, 2020
Luiz Davidovich Ildeu de Castro Moreira
President of ABC President of SBPC
Read the original letter here.
In addition to ABC and SBPC, the following entities signed the document:
Academy of Sciences of the State of São Paulo (ACIESP)
Pernambuco Academy of Sciences (APC)
Brazilian Association of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (AB3C)
Brazilian Association of Ecological Science and Conservation (ABECO)
Brazilian Association of Political Science (ABCP)
Brazilian Association of Pharmaceutical Sciences (ABCF)
Brazilian Association of Crystallography (ABCr)
Brazilian Association of Musical Education (ABEM)
Brazilian Association of Mechanical Engineering and Sciences (ABCM)
Brazilian Statistics Association (SBE)
Brazilian Association of Ethnomusicology (ABET)
Brazilian Press Association (ABI)
Brazilian Association of Limnology (ABLimno)
Brazilian Association of Mutagenesis and Environmental Genomics (Mutagen-Brazil)
Brazilian Association for Research in Science Education (ABRAPEC)
Brazilian Association of Journalism Researchers (SBPJor)
National History Association (ANPUH)
National Association for Research and Postgraduate Studies in Architecture and Urbanism (ANPARQ)
National Association for Research and Postgraduate Studies in Psychology (ANPEPP)
National Association of Postgraduate Studies and Research in Social Sciences (ANPOCS)
National Association of Postgraduate Studies and Research in Education (ANPED)
National Association of Postgraduate Studies and Research in Geography (ANPEGE)
National Association of Postgraduate Studies and Research in Urban and Regional Planning (ANPUR)
National Association of Postgraduate Studies in Philosophy (ANPOF)
National Association of Postgraduate Programs in Communication (COMPÓS)
Brazilian Federation of Scientific and Academic Communication Associations (SOCICOM)
Federation of Experimental Biology Societies (FESBE)
Brazilian Consumer Protection Institute (IDEC)
Brazilian Astronomical Society (SAB)
Brazilian Automatic Society (SBA)
Brazilian Society of Biophysics (SBBfis)
Brazilian Society of Cell Biology (SBBC)
Brazilian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SBBq)
Brazilian Computer Society (SBC)
Brazilian Society of Ecotoxicology (ECOTOX-Brazil)
Brazilian Society of Electromagnetism (SBMAG)
Brazilian Society of Classical Studies (SBEC)
Brazilian Society of Pharmacognosy (SBFGnosia)
Brazilian Physics Society (SBF)
Brazilian Society of Physiology (SBFis)
Brazilian Society of Plant Physiology (SBFV)
Brazilian Society of Genetics (SBG)
Brazilian Society for the History of Science (SBHC)
Brazilian Society of History of Education (SBHE)
Brazilian Society of Ichthyology (SBI)
Brazilian Society of Immunology (SBI)
Brazilian Mathematics Society (SBM)
Brazilian Society of Applied and Computational Mathematics (SBMAC)
Brazilian Society of Microbiology (SBM)
Brazilian Society of Microelectronics (SBMicro)
Brazilian Society of Microwaves and Optoelectronics (SBMO)
Brazilian Society of Ornithology (SBO)
Brazilian Society of Paleontology (SBP)
Brazilian Society of Parasitology (SBP)
Brazilian Society for Research in Materials (SBPMat)
Brazilian Society of Operational Research (SOBRAPO)
Brazilian Society of Protozoology (SBPz)
Brazilian Society of Psychology (SBP)
Brazilian Chemical Society (SBQ)
Brazilian Telecommunications Society (SBrT)
Brazilian Society of Virology (SBV)
Brazilian Archeology Society (SAB)
Latin Union of Political Economy of Information, Communication and Culture (Ulepicc-Brazil)
