Bolsonaro fires health minister

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday afternoon (Apr. 16) announced Doctor Nelson Teich as new health minister to replace Luiz Henrique Mandetta, who spent a little more than 16 months in the post. Tech is to take office amid the pandemic of the new coronavirus, which has seen over 30 thousand infected in the country and some 1.9 thousand killed. In a pronouncement at the Planalto presidential palace, joined by the new cabinet member, Bolsonaro stressed that the disease must be tackled with economic recovery and employment guaranteed, and advocated measures to gradually discontinue social isolation rues across the country.

“What I discussed with Dr. Nelson [Teich] is, we must gradually resume work in Brazil. This massive number of poor people cannot be stuck at home and run the risk of finding themselves jobless upon returning. And the government cannot maintain the emergency allowance and other measures for much longer,” he stated.

Bolsonaro mentioned a “consensual divorce” between him and Mandetta, and said the former minister “was willing to start a seamless transition, providing as much in-depth information as possible.”

In his address after the president’s, Nelson Teich said no “brusque or extreme” decision will be made on the guidelines regarding social distancing, but he pointed out that the ministry will base its work on more detailed data about the spread of the pandemic in the country. In this connection, he argued for a comprehensive COVID-19 testing program and stressed his stance is thoroughly in line with Bolsonaro’s, with a view to resuming normalcy in the country as soon as possible.

“There is full alignment here between me and the president, and also all of the team at the ministry, and what we’re doing here is really working to get society closer and closer to a normal life quickly,” he said.

The new health minister is an oncologist and a businessman in the field. – Marcello Casal Jr / Agência Brasil

Profile

The new health minister is an oncologist and a businessman in the field. He was born in Rio de Janeiro and graduated from the State University of Rio de Janeiro, and specialized in oncology at the National Cancer Institute (Inca). He is also a partner at medical consultancy Teich Health Care.

Teich was an informal adviser in Bolsonaro’s 2018 campaign and also provided advice for the health minister himself between September last year and January this year.

*Jonas Valente contributed to this article.