Implementação do diagnóstico molecular da Covid-19 no Vale do Jequitinhonha. Minas Gerais: 59 municípios atendidos em uma das regiões mais carentes do Brasil

Health services in the interior of Brazil have some problems and barriers, and in the state of Minas Gerais is not different. The Jequitinhonha Valley region, located in the northwest of the state, is one of the most deprived in Minas Gerais and the country, with the potentialization of these problems. Covering 59 municipalities and containing a population of approximately 1 million habitants, the region has many problems regarding health services for the population. These problems include infrastructure, transportation and limited communication, in addition to the scarcity of specialized health professionals and restricted access to resources for diagnosis, prevention and control of diseases. Faced with the pandemic caused by the new coronavirus, at the Federal University of Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM), located in the city of Diamantina, home of the health macro-region, it has a leading role without facing the Covid-19. Given the scarcity of resources for diagnosis in the Vale region, professionals from UFVJM decide minimizes the impact that this reality brings to this population, as a result they created the UFVJM diagnostic laboratory. Thus, this work is the process of implementing the Covid-19 diagnostic laboratory at UFVJM, with operations in this region of low middle and human development, addressing the impacts that the effectiveness and rapid diagnosis generated for the cities and the population of region This effects impact on the regional health system, and on regional development. In this way, we observed a great source that the Covid-19 tests brought to the Jequitinhonha Valley region. The Valley that was previously forgotten, has been reference of control of this disease, thanks to an efficient test system, never seen before in this region .