乐鱼 体育

Health Ministry Musical Chairs

By Lucy Hale

As Brazil faces the deadliest days of the pandemic and the collapse of its hospital system, its Health Ministry is under new management. Again. In March, President Jair Bolsonaro  Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello, an army general who had no previous public health experience, with Marcelo Queiroga, the head of the country鈥檚 cardiology association. Pazuello had spent only ten months on the job. Quieroga, Brazil鈥檚 fourth health minister since the start of the pandemic, inherits a highly contagious variant and out-of-control viral spread that has put intensive care unit  above 80 percent.

Brazil鈥檚 pandemic management has been uniquely haphazard; Bolsonaro鈥檚 first two health ministers quit in protest. However, frequent health ministry turnover is not unique to Brazil. The region鈥檚 top health officials face an unenviable assignment. Latin America is the world鈥檚 hardest hit region, and it is paying a high price for decades of underinvestment and inequality in public health infrastructure: as of March 15, 23 million Latin Americans had contracted COVID-19 and 720,000 had died of the disease, according to UN data. On average, Latin American governments  3.7 percent of GDP on public health, far below the 6 percent target recommended by the Pan American Health Organization. As a result, even before the pandemic, the region struggled to care for the legions of Latin Americans suffering non-communicable diseases, such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

The region鈥檚 failure to control corruption has further complicated the job, and job prospects, for Latin America鈥檚 senior health officials. Latin America鈥檚 health sector is always vulnerable to corruption, given low levels of transparency and competition. Today, those problems are amplified by public pressure for rapid spending. Fraud in , , ,  and elsewhere has squandered scarce resources, with public officials paying high prices for low-quality medical equipment, including ventilators. The arrival of vaccines created new opportunities for improprieties, including favoritism. ,  and  have all dismissed their health ministers for mishandling vaccine distribution, contributing to the region鈥檚 health minister musical chairs.

Thirteen countries in Latin America have changed health ministers at least once since the start of the pandemic: in all, 25 ministers have resigned or been fired. The circumstances have ranged from disagreements over health policy to the misuse of public funds and medical supplies. In all cases, the personnel upheaval has harmed the region鈥檚 response to its worst public health crisis in modern times.

Image Credit

乐鱼 体育