Oral Health Course for Inmates, promoted by Seap and Sespa, competes for the Innovare Award
For a year, incarcerated individuals were trained in the Basic Health Units of the municipalities of Santa Izabel do Pará and Marituba, in the Metropolitan Region of Belém
An exciting moment. This is how inmates from five prison units in Pará defined the certification ceremony of the Oral Health Assistant Course, held at the auditorium of the SUS Technical School "Dr. Manuel Ayres" in Belém. The training is the result of a partnership between the State Secretariat for Penitentiary Administration (Seap), through the Biopsychosocial Assistance Directorate, and the State Secretariat for Public Health (Sespa).
With subjects covering reception, work and study as methods of social reintegration, ethics, history of Dentistry, legal practice and exclusive activities, as well as endemic pathologies in prison and biosafety, the course promoted by the two state secretariats is one of the contenders for the "Innovare" Award, which aims to identify, publicize, and disseminate practices that contribute to the improvement of Justice in Brazil.
Support - According to the director of Biopsychosocial Assistance at Seap, Michelle Holanda, the development of the project in partnership with the SUS Technical School arose from the need for support for dental care in penal units. "This training was conducted by our own dental, psychological, and nursing staff, who acted as teachers and trainers," she reported.
Michelle Holanda emphasized that the course promotes the inclusion of incarcerated individuals. "Even within prison, they have the opportunity to learn a profession and start practicing it, assisting dentists in the units and caring for other inmates. Furthermore, upon gaining their freedom, they will have the possibility to work in Primary Health Care, through training as oral health assistants," she added.
The director also stressed that the training has already gained prominence in Senappen (National Secretariat of Penal Policies) as one of the good practices within the prison system. "Now, we are competing for the Innovare Award. We have already received visits from the press, including representatives from Datafolha, who got to know our dental facilities, spoke with the inmates participating in the course, and were able to see up close the structure and potential of this learning," she highlighted. "We are in the final stages and hoping that the project will be awarded," Michelle Holanda reinforced.
The deputy secretary of Sespa, Edney Mendes Pereira, representing Secretary Ivete Gadelha, thanked for the partnership. "Seap provided us with ideas for success cases, like this one, allowing the newest members of the SUS warriors to enter the job market. With this, we have the opportunity to change the lives of many people, not only those who are trained here but also many who will be cared for by these graduates," said the manager.
Window to the Country - Edney Mendes Pereira also emphasized that the initiative offers new concepts, being pioneering in Brazil. "It will be a window of visibility for the entire national territory. It is such an important process, a pilot, the first course in Brazil," he emphasized, adding: "We need to be hand in hand and with open doors to transform this reality."
For inmate Ailson Esquerdo de Oliveira, from UCR Marituba II (in the Metropolitan Region of Belém), it was an honor and a privilege to complete the course. "Today I am realizing a dream. Among many other inmates, we were chosen to participate in this training. I already work inside Seap's offices, working with Dr. Rodolfo and Dr. Júlia. And I am already an oral health assistant in training," Ailson said.
He assured that this opportunity has significantly changed his life. "Today, I hold a responsibility as an oral health assistant. It is something very important in my career. From now on, I want to go to college. I already work as a monitor in the regime. And my goal is to enroll in a degree program in the dental area. This course is an incentive for me to achieve my dream and advance in my studies," Ailson Esquerdo added, stating that he considers "it very important that they have trusted us, allowing us to practice a profession. Reintegration is undoubtedly essential for life."
Adelson da Vera Cruz, an inmate at UCR Santa Izabel III (also in the Metropolitan Region), thanked for the knowledge acquired. "With this new learning in the area of oral health, I can only congratulate everyone behind this work. Today, as an oral health assistant, I encourage all those who collaborate with this project to continue acting socially, helping many other inmates who are deprived of freedom. May these actions strengthen and reach, with even more capacity, others who find themselves in the same condition I was in," declared the inmate.
Innovare Award - The Judging Commissions of the Innovare Award are composed of ministers from the Supreme Federal Court (STF), Superior Court of Justice (STJ), Superior Labor Court (TST), as well as judges, prosecutors, defenders, lawyers, and other prominent professionals interested in contributing to the development of the Judiciary. Since 2004, more than 10,000 practices from all states have passed through the Innovare judging committee.
The Superior Council is composed of prestigious representative associations in the legal world: National Justice Council (CNJ), Secretariat for Access to Justice of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, Attorney General's Office (AGU), Brazilian Magistrates Association (AMB), National Association of Members of the Public Ministry (Conamp), National Association of Public Defenders (Anadep), Association of Federal Judges of Brazil (Ajufe), Federal Council of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB), National Association of Federal Prosecutors (ANPR), and National Association of Labor Court Judges (Anamatra).
