The Santos Dumont Institute (ISD), based in Macaíba, was recognized this Wednesday, November 10, as a Public Utility Entity through Ordinary Law No. 11,012. The Law was sanctioned by the acting governor of the State of Rio Grande do Norte, Antenor Roberto, and published in the Official State Gazette (DOE/RN).

The title of Public Utility is granted to entities, foundations and civil associations as a way of recognizing them as non-profit institutions and providers of services to society. Furthermore, it allows the organization to register for public notices and receive public resources, such as parliamentary amendments. ISD is a Social Organization linked to the Ministry of Education that operates in the areas of teaching, research and extension through the Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neurosciences (IIN-ELS) and the Anita Garibaldi Health Education and Research Center (Anita) .

The general director of the Santos Dumont Institute, Reginaldo Freitas Jr., highlights the importance of Law No. 11,012. “This recognition means a lot to ISD in the sense that it is another step towards our image of the future, of what we think for the future of ISD. We, today, are aware of the need for Rio Grande do Norte to recognize the Institute as its heritage, as a heritage from Rio Grande do Norte. We are, at the same time, aware that the Institute needs to be better known by Rio Grande do Sul society, its work more understood, its potential more recognized so that they can truly be made available to Rio Grande do Norte society. . For the Institute to be able to do more for Rio Grande do Norte, it needs to be better known and recognized.”

At the Santos Dumont Institute, professor-researchers and students of the Master's Degree in Neuroengineering, the first in the field in Brazil, develop low-cost projects aimed at creating orthoses and prosthetics for people served by the Unified Health System with some congenital or acquired disability. Assistive technologies aim to universalize access to have effective reach and application in the Unified Health System.

The Specialized Rehabilitation Center (CER IV ISD), which serves patients with motor, intellectual and hearing disabilities, works as a school for students of the Multidisciplinary Residency in Health Care for People with Disabilities, a pioneer in Brazil in this line, with theoretical classes and practices developed in Epilepsy clinics (child and adult); Parkinson's; Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD); Spinal cord injury (child and adult); Microcephaly; Hearing Impairment (child and adult); Prematurity and Neurogenic Bladder. Fifteen specialists have already been trained and another 15 are in the training process. In addition to this training, the Santos Dumont Institute implements pioneering projects, such as the formation of a multidisciplinary team that discusses and shares the decision to apply botulinum toxin in the treatment of muscle spasticity in adults and children. There is also the use of neuromodulation in patients with neurogenic bladder and bowel.

“We have a very strong feeling of gratitude for the State Government, for the Legislative Assembly of Rio Grande do Norte, for the sensitivity of the deputies and state deputies in understanding our work as relevant. This recognition is inserted in the context of being an important step in this construction that is daily, perennial and, above all, necessary. In order for there to be greater capillarity of the Institute's actions in Rio Grande do Norte, strategies like this are very important. It is necessary for the ISD to have visibility so that the society of Rio Grande do Norte increasingly recognizes the Institute as its own”, emphasizes the general director, Reginaldo Freitas Jr..