João Neto, president of the Union of Dentists (SMD) accused the Minister of Health of lying to parliament and guaranteed that he had proof that he had met with Ana Paula Martins’ chief of staff. In a statement, the president of the SMD expressed his displeasure at the situation and demanded the resignation of the Minister of Health.
In a statement, the SMD said that ‘On 11 April of this year, the Union of Dentists was contacted by the Ministry of Health with the intention of preparing for an institutional meeting within a maximum of one week. This meeting never took place, for reasons we don’t know, despite the fact that the Ministry had held a series of meetings with the various trade union organisations in the health sector. The SMD was the only trade union organisation that was excluded from these meetings. After much insistence from the SMD, we were summoned to a meeting with the Chief of Staff of the Minister of Health, Dr Ana Paula Martins, on 21 June on the assumption that it would serve as a preliminary preparation for a future meeting with the Minister of Health. We would point out that this procedure, which we find strange and unusual, has never happened with any of the other trade union organisations in the health sector. After further significant attempts by the SMD to contact the Ministry of Health, an institutional meeting with the Minister of Health was scheduled for 22 October. However, this meeting did not take place again, as it was unilaterally cancelled by Ana Paula Martins only 48 hours in advance, without giving any reason for the decision.’
According to him, the union ‘has proof’ that on 11 April it received an email from the Ministry of Health asking it to prepare for a subsequent meeting, followed by ‘successive telephone contacts’.
The SMD accused the Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, of a lack of respect after successive cancellations of meetings and demanded her resignation, informing the Prime Minister of the situation.
