Flávia Albuquerque
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília – President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed this Thursday (19) a decree that exempts over one thousand medications from tax, which will contribute for a reduction of approximately 11% on final drugstore prices.

The measure was announced in São Paulo by the Minister of Health, Humberto Costa. According to him, this is another initiative by the Brazilian government to increase population’s access to medications.

The exemption includes 60 types of drugs, among them, antidepressant, hypertension, birth control, diabetes, anti-inflammatory, and antiretroviral. Patients under treatment for Hepatitis B and C will also benefit from the measure.

Translation: Andréa Alves