The Brazilian Federal Revenue Service donated a DAF brand truck to the Piracicaba School of Dentistry (FOP) at Unicamp. The vehicle will be adapted to provide dental care in neighborhoods of Piracicaba. The handover ceremony took place on Thursday afternoon (May 7th) at the Federal Revenue Service headquarters and was attended by representatives from the Unicamp Rectorate, FOP, and the tax authority.
The mobile dental clinic will be adapted to provide dental care and used for university outreach programs and health campaigns. The FOP's (Faculty of Dentistry of Ouro Preto) proposal is to bring dental care to the most remote areas of the city, which face difficulties accessing oral health services, as well as to promote awareness campaigns about prevention and dental care. The initiative also seeks to strengthen the relationship between the University and the community.
The rector of Unicamp, Paulo César Montagner, highlighted the importance of the partnership between the University and the Federal Revenue Service. According to him, the meeting also served to discuss protocols of mutual interest aimed at research and innovation projects.
“Bringing dental care to the outskirts of the city is gratifying. I feel happy to participate in this moment, with the donation of a trailer that will be transformed into a mobile dental clinic, allowing us to take the knowledge produced by FOP to the people who most need access to oral health,” he stated.
The head of the Federal Revenue Service in Piracicaba, Antônio José Furlan, explained that the truck was seized in an operation to combat smuggling. “This project is very important for the University and for the Federal Revenue Service, as it will give visibility to the institutions and benefit the most vulnerable population of Piracicaba,” he said.
Furlan said that he learned about the proposal during the administration of former FOP director Flávio Henrique Baggio Aguiar, and that the project continued under the current administration of director Karina Gonzales Silverio.
According to Silverio, the goal is to install three dental offices, an area for radiography, and a sterilization sector. "The idea is for the mobile dental clinic to travel through neighborhoods on the outskirts of Piracicaba and, in the future, municipalities in the metropolitan region and, if possible, also cities in the Campinas region," he explained.
The director also emphasized that the initiative will have an outreach character and will involve fifth-year undergraduate students. "The students will be able to treat patients who face difficulties traveling to the university to receive dental treatment," she stated.
The next step will be to secure resources for adapting the trailer. According to the director, investments could come from the private sector, parliamentary amendments, and other funding sources. "To transform the truck into a mobile clinic, we estimate an investment of between R$ 600 and R$ 640, covering the installation of all the dental equipment," she explained.
Tax auditor Marcos Vinícius Beltrame, deputy delegate of the Federal Revenue Service, explained that the institution seizes assets linked to criminal activities and, in some cases, donates them to public bodies. “When the FOP representatives, Karina and Flávio, presented the project to us, we immediately realized we could help. Today, we see the realization of this dream,” he stated.
Beltrame also pledged to look into the possibility of donating the remaining equipment to begin providing services to the public. "It's an interesting story because we were there and Karina showed us, presented the project to transform a trailer into a clinic, and we realized right away that we had a chance to help," said the tax official.
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