Brazilian and Cuban authorities are to provide free sex-change operations as part of their healthcare plans. In Brazil, the Federal Medicine Council has approved sex-change operations since the late 1990s, but the procedure could only be conducted in the private healthcare system at a very high cost.
The government will now begin paying for the operations, local media reported on Friday, citing the President, Mr Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and the health minister, Mr Jose Gomes Temporao. In communist Cuba, sex-change surgery was authorized for the first time, and it will be offered free of charge, sources at the National Centre for Sexual Education (Cenesex) told DPA on Friday.
The Brazilian minister announced that country’s move late on Thursday alongside Mr Lula, as they opened the first National Conference of Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transvestites and Transsexuals being held through Sunday in Brasilia. The move in Cuba was announced by a source at Cenesex, which is headed by the Cuban President Mr Raul Castro’s daughter, sexologist, Ms Mariela Castro.
It was said to be part of the framework of a programme for the integral care of transsexuals. The resolution by the Public Health Ministry is operational but has yet to be made public. Mr Gomes Temporao said the move is in accordance with the government’s policy.