Brazil's new health minister resigns after a month on the job


Brazil's new health minister has resigned after a month on the job in a sign of continuing upheaval over how the nation should battle the COVID-19 pandemic, quitting a day after president Jair Bolsonaro stepped up pressure on him to expand the use of the antimalarial drug chloroquine in treating patients, AP reported.

Dr. Nelson Teich, an oncologist and health consultant, began work on April 17, faced with the task of coordinating the ministry’s actions with the president’s opinion that Brazil’s economy should not be destroyed by restrictions to control the spread of the virus.
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His predecessor, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, also rejected the use of chloroquine.

According to local officials, almost 15,000 people died from COVID-19 in Brazil, although some experts believe this figure is significantly higher due to insufficient testing.

General Eduardo Pazuello, who has no experience in the field of healthcare, will serve as minister until Bolsonaro selects a new candidate. Brazilian media report that Teich’s ability to carry out his work has been weakened by the appointment of dozens of troops to the ministry.

“Life is made up of choices and today I decided to leave,” Teich told journalists in capital Brasilia. He did not explain why he left the job and refused to answer questions.

Teich’s resignation occurred the day after Bolsonaro announced that he would weaken the rules for using chloroquine to treat people infected with COVID-19. Teich has frequently called the use of the drug “an uncertainty,” and this week warned of its side effects.

The health ministry has earlier authorized the use of chloroquine in COVID-19 cases only for patients hospitalized in serious condition.

At the insistence of Bolsonaro, in late March, the country's army chemical and pharmaceutical lab increased the production of chloroquine.

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