The Santos Dumont Institute (ISD) is one of the five institutions across Brazil to win the 1st Viver Sem Limites Award promoted by the Ministry of Health. The announcement was made this Wednesday morning, December 8, in a ceremony at the Ministry's headquarters of Health, in Brasília. ISD competed with 93 other entities for the award celebrating 10 years of the National Plan for the Rights of People with Disabilities Living Without Limits, which promotes the social inclusion of people with disabilities, the strengthening of collective health in an unrestricted manner and the adoption of public policies for the development and universalization of the Unified Health System (SUS).

The actions developed by ISD through the Anita Garibaldi Health Education and Research Center (Anita) and the Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neuroscience (IIN-ELS), in Macaíba (RN), were detailed in a 10-minute institutional video duration. Watch the finalist videos by clicking here. Of the five awarded institutions, three are located in cities in Minas Gerais and two in the Northeast, the ISD being in Macaíba (RN), and one in Recife (PE).

“This action to recognize the work carried out by ISD has a very special meaning, as it is capable of bringing us even closer to society. The national dimension that this initiative assumes strengthens an entire care network that must be better known, understood and valued by every citizen of our country. There is a lot of love, dedication and hope in the work that we decided to take on as a mission and we are very happy with this result”, declared the general director of ISD, Reginaldo Freitas Jr.. The trophy was presented to the general director, Reginaldo Freitas Jr. and to the Institute's communications advisor, Ricardo Araújo, by the Secretary of Specialized Health Care of the Ministry of Health, Sérgio Okane.

The ISD is part of the Health Care Network for People with Disabilities as a Specialized Rehabilitation Center (CNES No. 6058256), authorized by the Ministry of Health in the Physical, Intellectual and Hearing modalities – CER III, through Ordinance/GM/ MS No. 1,430, of October 17, 2016, for the Seventh Health Region of the State of Rio Grande do Norte (Metropolitan Region), covering the municipalities of Macaíba, Natal, Parnamirim, São Gonçalo do Amarante and Extremoz. Ordinance/GM/MS No. 1,842, of August 6, 2021, formalized the change of category of the Specialized Rehabilitation Center, from CER III to CER IV, including qualification to serve people with visual impairments.

The trophies and certificates ceremony took place at the Emílio Ribas Auditorium, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Health, in Brasília (DF). At the event, the Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, highlighted the importance of recognizing good practices and innovations in the Unified Health System promoted by the champion institutions. “Today, we celebrate a decade of this public policy that has promoted inclusion and so many benefits for Brazilians. It is always important to emphasize that it will only be possible to contemplate citizen rights by strengthening the SUS, which is universal and serves everyone”, said Queiroga.

In addition to Marcelo Queiroga and Sérgio Okane, Cláudio Panoeiro, national secretary for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, was present at the ceremony; Socorro Gross, PAHO/WHO representative in Brazil; Charlles Evangelista, federal deputy, and Hishami Mohamad, financial director of Conasems. Everyone highlighted the importance of the actions developed by the winning institutions as models to be followed throughout the country.

Selection
The winning teams were selected through a notice of good practices launched in September by the Department of Specialized and Thematic Care (Daet) of the Secretariat of Specialized Health Care. At the ceremony, the director of Daet, Maíra Botelho, presented the Notice of Good Practice Practices and showed the actions developed by the SUS in the Care Network for People with Disabilities. “This tribute is a great opportunity to materialize, through care practice, a health policy developed in the national territory that is translated into the provision of care for the population,” he said.

The first edition of the award recognized experiences that showed positive results, with improvements in access to the population and organization of health care for people with disabilities.

Awarded
Read the list of five award-winning initiatives below:

Transforming lives – Anita Garibaldi Health Education and Research Center, in Macaíba, Rio Grande do Norte;

Early intervention for people with disabilities in Contagem – CER IV Contagem – APAEBH, in Contagem, Minas Gerais;

The Hearing Health Network in the Zona da Mata of Minas Gerais – Hospital Evandro Ribeiro, in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais;

Post-Covid Rehabilitation - State Department of Health, in Minas Gerais;

Qualified and Humanized Multidisciplinary Care for People with Disabilities – CER IV – Fundação Altino Ventura, in Recife, Pernambuco.