Malei preaches the last nail in the casket of Argentina’s health system

The Argentine government has announced a series of changes in public health guidelines, focusing on the restructuring of the national health model and the formal withdrawal of the country from the World Health Organization (WHO). The measures were released on Monday (26), through a statement from the Ministry of Health, as informed by the local press.

The document states that the current treatment model will be replaced by a prevention -centered approach based on technical criteria.

“The new model will be built on scientific evidence, prioritizing strategies that reduce the incidence of disease and increase patient safety,” the government said.

The departure of the Argentina from WHO was confirmed in the same announcement. “Today, the evidence indicates that WHO revenues do not work because they are not based on science, but on political interests and bureaucratic structures that resist revising their own mistakes,” says the text released by the Ministry of Health.

The decision was communicated days after the visit to Robert Kennedy Jr., United States Health Secretary, who is a political ally of President Javier Milei.

The two governments have been adopting aligned measures, especially in the areas of health and foreign relations. The United States left WHO in February this year, during President Donald Trump’s second term.

Among the main points of the Argentine plan is the restructuring of the organs that make up the National Health System. The goal, according to the official statement, is to “order, update and make more transparent structures and processes that, for years, worked with overlays, obsolete norms and scarce supervision”.

Another expected measure is the reevaluation of the use of emergency authorizations for high cost medicines, focusing on treatments for rare and pediatric diseases. “The Ministry of Health will propose to discuss the use of this type of authorization for high cost medicines,” the folder said.

In the food sector, the government has announced that it will restrict the use of synthetic additives considered potentially harmful. The statement mentions the possibility of re -examining ingredients used by the food industry, highlighting its eventual bond with the growth of chronic diseases.

“The initiative also questions the role of certain ingredients used by the food industry and its possible bond with the increase of chronic diseases,” the ministry said.

Among the most discussed proposals is the requirement that vaccines are subjected to clinical studies with placebo groups before approval.

The Argentine government stated that, in certain cases, the absence of control groups compromises the reliability of results. “A clear example of this need is the covid-19 vaccine, applied without control group and under exceptional approval conditions,” the statement says.

Argentina’s withdrawal from WHO is justified, according to the government, not only for technical reasons, but also for financial reasons. The country states that maintenance of affiliation with the organization represents an annual cost of approximately US $ 10 million, which includes salary, daily and advisors to the Argentine mission to the international entity.

The approximation between the governments of Milei and Trump has been reflected in similar decisions, especially political alignment in the conduct of sanitary policies.

The Argentine president has reiterated the intention to reformulate the country’s multilateral relations, focusing on structures considered more efficient and at lower cost.

The WHO, created in 1948, is linked to the United Nations (UN) and its functions is the coordination of international responses to sanitary seizures and the provision of technical support to health systems in member countries. Its headquarters is located in Geneva, Switzerland.

Argentina, hitherto a member of WHO, participated in global epidemiological surveillance initiatives, vaccination programs and pandemic combat strategies. With the departure, the country is no longer active representation in the entity’s decisions and guidelines, which currently has 194 members.

The Argentine Ministry of Health reported that the withdrawal will be formalized through appropriate diplomatic channels, and will continue to develop its own policies for disease prevention and treatment. The government has also stated that it will seek bilateral partnerships with other countries for technical and scientific cooperation.

Also according to the statement, the new public health policy will be subjected to permanent review and should include external evaluation mechanisms. The plan provides for the creation of new criteria for incorporating technologies, medical inputs and clinical protocols into the national system.

The Ministry of Health did not report deadlines for the full implementation of changes. The folder stated that the transition will be made gradually and according to specific schedules that will still be disclosed.