Peruvian President appoints new head of Health Ministry

The President of Peru, Pedro Castillo, appointed Kelly Portalatino as the new head of the Ministry of Health (Minsa) on Thursday after removing Jorge López Peña from the post amid a scandal involving alleged corruption.

“For dignified and quality health, yes, I promise”, said the new minister during the swearing-in ceremony held in the Caceres Hall of the Government Palace, located in downtown Lima.

Portalatino, a surgeon who graduated from the University of San Pedro in the Ancash region, becomes, with this appointment, the fourth Minister of Health of President Castillo, who assumed the Presidency of the Republic on July 28, 2021.

She currently serves as Congresswoman of the Republic for Ancash for 2021-2026.

In this capacity, she has been the promoter of two laws that benefit her region, mainly in fishing activity.

Additionally, she is a member of several commissions, among them the Andean, Amazonian and Afro-Peruvian Peoples, Environment and Ecology.

Among her experience, she stands out for having been executive director of the South Pacific Health Network in 2014.

From 2016 to July 2021, she practiced as a surgeon in the Executing Unit No. 409 of the North Pacific Network in Chimbote.

Portalatino replaces Jorge López Peña in the position, to whom the Prosecutor’s Office opened a preliminary investigation yesterday, Wednesday, for 60 days for the alleged crime of illicit enrichment.

According to a report by the private channel “Latina”, the now-former minister would have given several Minsa workers envelopes with 9,000 soles (about 2,250 dollars) in cash to be deposited in the bank account of his ex-partner and mother of his children, Dervy Apaza.

After receiving a total amount of 98,400 soles (about US$24,600), Apaza allegedly purchased an apartment in a district of Lima, which was seized recently following a court order.