The renewal of the agreement for the free transport of organs and items for transplants, signed this week (20th) between the Brazilian Airlines Association (ABEAR), airports, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Infrastructure, Brazilian Air Force (FAB) and Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (ANAC) crowns eight years of intense cooperation between national aviation and one of the largest organ transplant programs in the world, part of the Unified Health System (SUS).
These activities began in 2001, when the companies gathered in the National Union of Airline Companies (SNEA) signed a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Health. In 2014, ABEAR launched the Asas do Bem Program, with two objectives: to publicize the importance of organ donation and to expand the free transportation of these items by its associates. Data from the National Transplant Center (CNT) reveal that from 2014 to September 2022, around 57 organs were transported.
The agreement provides for the transport of organs, teams, items and tissues free of charge by airlines. The effort currently includes, in addition to ABEAR and its associates, other airlines, the Ministry of Health (through the CNT), the Ministry of Infrastructure (National Civil Aviation Secretariat – SAC), the Air Force Command (Brazilian Air Force – FAB, Airspace Control Department – DECEA, and Air Navigation Management Center – CGNA), the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), Infraero, concessioned airports and the National Association of Airport Management Companies (ANEAA) .
In 2018, we launched the “Jornada Asas do Bem”, a series of face-to-face and online lectures to highlight the importance of organ donation and the contribution of aviation to making transplants feasible. The presentations were made by publicist Alexandre Barroso, three times transplanted, and toured 15 states and the Federal District, bringing together thousands of people in events promoted by hospitals, transplant centers, airlines and social initiatives. In 2020, due to the new coronavirus pandemic, we held lives with health professionals to promote the topic on Instagram and YouTube.
The contribution of ABEAR to social and humanitarian actions goes beyond Asas do Bem. It is important to that at the height of the pandemic, in April 2020, air operations were reduced to just 7% of total departures in the pre-crisis period. Even so, we kept the country connected to ensure the free transport of organs for transplantation. We sent 8,5 health professionals to fight Covid-19, more than 660 tons of food, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and respirators were taken to the frontlines to fight the pandemic, at no cost. We also repatriated 42 Brazilians who had no way of returning to Brazil due to the closure of borders, and we have already transported 315 million vaccines across the country. With the exception of São Paulo, where they traveled directly by land, all people who took the vaccine in other states did so thanks to air transport.
This year, we also celebrate 10 years of ABEAR's history, promoting the values of aviation, creating a culture of dialogue and trusting relationships with public and private interlocutors, strictly following compliance rules, demonstrating to the country that this industry has a huge set of professionals of extreme quality and an agenda to be defended before society in order to make aviation a modal that is increasingly present in everyone's daily life. Today, it is impossible to discuss any topic related to aviation without thinking about ABEAR and ways of collective and coordinated action with a huge range of partner entities and organizations.
It is always worth ing in this 10-year mark that in 2002 we had an average fare of around 900 reais per ticket and around 30 million engers flew per year in Brazil. After the implementation of tariff freedom in aviation, in 2012 the tariff had dropped to something around 470 reais and about 100 million engers a year flew. Facing the rise in structural costs that we have been experiencing continuously since 2017, mainly in fuel and exchange rates, continuing to advance in aligning our work rules and our tax environment with the international market and recovering the consumption capacity of Brazilians are the way to return to that environment , so that we can transport more and more engers to more destinations and pave the way for us to reach the milestone of 200 million people transported per year.
Article by: Eduardo Sanovicz
President of the Brazilian Airlines Association (ABEAR)
