Brazil's public health care system will cover the cost of sex-change operations, the Government said after a federal court ruled the procedure was a constitutional right.

To qualify for health care, the operation will first have to be approved by a panel of doctors, after appropriate psychological and medical evaluations are made of the patient, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

The ruling issued late on Thursday by the Regional Federal Court of Porto Alegre, in the south, sided with the Public Ministry's argument that sexual reassignment surgery was a constitutional right, along with human dignity, equality, privacy and health care.

The Government in the lawsuit maintained it lacked the funds to pay for sex-change operations, but said it would not appeal the court ruling.

The court's chief judge, Rober Raupp Rios, said the ruling would prevent self-mutilation by people with sexual identity problems.

The Ministry of Health estimated the cost of sex-change operations in Porto Alegre at about $US1,000 ($1,270) and that as many as one Brazilians in 10,000 could be seeking one.

- AFP