Executive Secretary Eduardo Pazuello Takes Over as Interim Minister of Health

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Yesterday morning, May 16th, Brazil’s Ministry of Health confirmed that the portfolio’s Executive Secretary, Eduardo Pazuello, will temporarily take over the Ministry, replacing Nelson Teich. The latter left the government on Friday, May 15th.

An Army General, Pazuello was appointed to the second-highest post in the cabinet on May 22nd after Teich took over from Luiz Henrique Mandetta.

An expert in logistics, Pazuello was the logistical coordinator of the army’s troops during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, in addition to coordinating Operation Reception, which assists Venezuelan immigrants coming to Roraima fleeing the political and economic crisis in the neighboring country.

On Friday, when he resigned and left the government, doctor Nelson Teich said he had left a work plan “ready to help state and municipal secretaries try to understand what is happening and think about next steps” for whoever would succeed him in office.

Teich did not elaborate on his motives for leaving, but there were public disagreements between him and President Jair Bolsonaro over issues such as social distancing and the use of chloroquine for the treatment of covid-19. According to the Chief of Staff, Walter Braga Netto, the decision was motivated by personal issues.

During a press conference, Netto commented that the President advocated different ways to tackle the novel coronavirus from those proposed by Teich and Mandetta.

According to the Minister, Bolsonaro is against “excesses,” championing vertical isolation – which establishes social isolation only for people in risk groups (the elderly, patients with diabetes and cardiovascular diseases) or who are infected and the use of hydroxychloroquine in the initial stage of the disease.

Source: Exame