Brazil's president fires popular health minister

Brazil's president fires popular health minister

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, whose dismissive stance toward the Covid-19 pandemic has angered many health experts, fired his popular health minister following a series of disagreements over the proper response to contain the virus’ spread in South America’s most populous country.



Luiz Henrique Mandetta, an orthopedist, had garnered support for his handling of the pandemic that included promotion of broad isolation measures enacted by state governors.



His dismissal comes as experts say the peak of the new coronavirus outbreak in Brazil is expected in the coming weeks.



“You should have absolute certainty that we fought a good fight until here,” Mandetta told fellow ministry workers in a televised press conference on Thursday after announcing his departure. “But we’re at the start of the battle.”



Bolsonaro, for his part, has repeatedly characterised the virus as a “little flu", said shutting down the economy would cause more damage than confining only high-risk Brazilians, and touted the yet-unproven efficacy of an anti-malarial drug.



“Life is priceless, but the economy and employment need to return to normality,” Bolsonaro said at a press conference on Thursday.



He also said he would neither condemn nor criticise Mandetta. “It was a consensual divorce because more important than me and more important than him as a minister is the health of the Brazilian people.”



For Mandetta’s replacement, Bolsonaro named Nelson Teich, an oncologist and senior consultant at medical services company Teich Health Care. He also has a Master’s in Business Administration, according to his LinkedIn page.



Speaking alongside Bolsonaro, Teich said he didn’t want to announce any changes abruptly, as little is known about the virus. He added that he and the president are “completely aligned.”



“Health and the economy are complementary,” Teich said. (AP)