Manuel Pizarro has already taken office as the new Minister of Health during a short ceremony in Belém.
The former Secretary of State succeeds Marta Temido, who resigned at the end of August, but remained in office until the approval by the Council of Ministers of the decree establishing the new executive leadership of the National Health Service (SNS). what happened last Thursday.
The outgoing minister attended the inauguration ceremony at the Palácio de Belém today and finally explained that the death of a pregnant woman who was transferred from one hospital to another in Lisbon – “having no direct relationship” with the aid provided to her – was “of such seriousness that it was necessary to be accountable”. And “the first person in charge was the minister,” Marta Temido added. It would have been the “last straw”, but not the only reason, with the former minister admitting she felt that “the way the industry saw the health minister was part of the problem rather than the solution.”
Manuel Pizarro began by referring to “substantive questions for the coming days, but despite questions from journalists, he also said that in Saúde “more resources will always be needed”, but also that existing resources are used “in the most effective way”.
When asked whether he is comfortable with the new status of the SNS, the new minister assured: “If I didn’t feel comfortable, I wouldn’t be able to take possession of this place today”.
António Costa, who also spoke at the end of the short swearing-in ceremony, said Manuel Pizarro has “all the conditions to continue the government program” and “the reforms underway”, as well as “the strategy of strengthening the National Health Service”.
Thanks to Marta Temido and the two Secretaries of State who have also left office – António Lacerda Sales and Fátima Fonseca – António Costa emphasized that the new Executive Director of the SNS will only be known after the entry into force of the diploma by the President of the Republic .
When asked about the need for more investment in the SNS, Costa replied that: “We should definitely continue to strengthen” the National Health Service. “The new ceiling for the ministry’s budget for next year, as is known, has already been set and needs to be strengthened,” said the prime minister, pointing out that more investment is needed in the organization and management of the SNS.
The challenges of the new minister
The name of Manuel Pizarro was announced yesterday, with the inauguration scheduled for this Saturday, shortly after the arrival in Lisbon of the President of the Republic, who has spent the past few days in Brazil, as part of the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the independence of the country.
Once the new holder of Health is sworn in, The names of the secretaries of state should be known in the coming days. Manuel Pizarro now holds the solution to the many problems that have hit the SNS in the post-pandemic period, namely the lack of professionals who have conditioned emergency services, especially obstetrics.
The new minister will also be responsible for executing the implementation direction of the SNS – and choosing who will hold the position – in the context of the new SNS statute. On Friday, still in Brazil, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa framed the choice of the new minister in this broader framework, as there was an approach to what he has championed, the “idea of a clear separation between political decisions and a more independent, more autonomous [do SNS]through an institution other than the Ministry”.
Other “hot” file for Manuel Pizarro’s term will be the lack of GPsa situation that is deteriorating and currently affects more than a million Portuguese.
Negotiations are also on the table for the review of the medical and nursing career, which Manuel Pizarro inherits from Marta Temido, in the context of the perceived dissatisfaction of professionals in the sector.
The financial terms he will have for the first year of his tenure will be determined during this month, during the preparation of the national budget for 2023, which will be submitted to the House of Representatives on 10 October. It will also be a first test of Manuel Pizarro’s “political weight” in the government, a point that has emerged since the choice of this doctor from Porto, a prominent figure in the socialist apparatus, was known.
A doctor with a long political career
Manuel Pizarro, born in Coimbra in 1964, but raised in Porto since childhood, has a degree in medicine from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, specializing in Internal Medicine, and participated in the creation of the Intermediate Care Unit of Medicine at the Hospital de S. João, of which he was deputy coordinator.
Already with experience in municipal politics in Porto, he was elected deputy of the Assembly of the Republic in 2005. In parliament, to which he would be re-elected in the next two legislatures, he was always a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Health. In 2008 he took on the role of State Secretary for Health. and, in the second government of José Sócrates, as Deputy Secretary of State and Health (in both cases with Ana Jorge as Minister). Files like the primary health care reform, expansion of the dental check-up program for childrenor the establishment of the Public Bank of Umbilical Cord Cells.
A top figure in the PS in the north, he was leader of the Municipality of Porto and is the leader of the Porto District, a position he has held since 2016. He was twice a defeated candidate for the Porto Chamber. A close name for António Costa, the relationship between the two suffered some friction during the last European elections, when Pizarro was placed ninth on the lists for the European Parliament. A place that initially would not be up for election, but which the PS eventually chose.
Source: DN
