The Ministry of Health has decided to maintain confidentiality regarding the purchase price of 73 million rapid COVID-19 tests in a contract valid for two years. The acquisition refers to a kit for detecting coronavirus using nasal or nasopharyngeal samples, and the first batch of 6.1 million units will be delivered within 30 and 60 days after signing the contract with the selected companies, respectively.
According to a technical study prepared for the bid, price estimates were kept secret to “protect the competitiveness of the event, prevent artificial price formation, and ensure the selection of the most advantageous proposal for the administration.”
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Ministry of Health purchases 73 million rapid COVID-19 tests
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Ministry of Health imposes secrecy on purchase price of coronavirus tests
Raffaella Feliciano/Metropoles
The number of coronavirus tests obtained was calculated by taking into account the annual average of 30.1 million rapid tests distributed in 2023 and 2024, as well as the annual average of 30.7 million reported viral syndromes.
“The sum of these values (60,832,688) divided by 2 gives 30,416,344 pieces, to which is added a 20% safety margin (6,083,269), for a total estimated annual test count of 36,499,613 pieces. Therefore, the estimated 24-month supply is rounded to 72,999,226 pieces. “73 million rapid antigen tests,” the technical study said.
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The document also points out that 8 million new coronavirus infections were registered in Brazil in 2023 and 2024. “Approximately 8 million positive cases were reported in 2023 and 2024, but this data may be underreported due to limitations in test distribution,” the study notes.
“Within the Unified Health System (SUS), rapid antigen tests (TR-Ag) are used in accordance with the National Expanded Testing Plan for COVID-19 (PNE-Teste). From the start of the plan until September 2024, approximately 83 million TR-Ags have been distributed, with a total of 10.3 million distributed by October in 2024 alone,” the document states.
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