President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa swore in new Health Minister Manuel Pizarro at the Palácio de Belém on Saturday.

During the ceremony, Rebelo de Sousa gave a long hug to the predecessor Marta Temido who officially left office on Saturday. She also received a greeting from Prime Minister António Costa.

Temido resigned as Health Minister on 30 August, but Costa asked her to stay on for a few more weeks until the approval of the diploma regulating the National Health Service (SNS) was completed.

As he left the ceremony, where his wife accompanied him, the new health minister said he embraced “this very demanding challenge with great determination, with a great desire to work for the health of the Portuguese people and the country’s health service”.

Asked about the lack of resources in the sector, Pizarro said that “more means will always be necessary, and it is also essential to use the existing resources as effectively as possible”.

“All cases in which there are difficulties of resources are cases that have to concern those who have responsibilities in the area of health,” he added.

When asked about the statements made by the president of the Portuguese Medical Association, Miguel Guimarães, who on Friday praised his appointment, Pizarro expressed his satisfaction.

“I am a doctor by profession. I have been practising medicine for over 30 years, and I can only be satisfied that the president of my professional association has welcomed my nomination. As for the rest, we will see what happens in the future,” he said.

Pizarro was secretary of state for health in the two governments led by José Sócrates, between 2008 and 2011, with Ana Jorge as minister. Pizarro was twice defeated in his candidacy for mayor of Porto. He is the leader of the Porto Federation of the Socialist Party.

Temido, for her part, said she would take office as a member of parliament.

Temido said she was “grateful” for the duties she has taken on at the ministry of health since 2018 but said she was aware that “there are moments in life and political life when the way we are seen can be as being part of the solution or as being part of the problem”.

In the early hours of Temido’s resignation on 30 August, a pregnant woman died after being transferred on Tuesday from Santa Maria Hospital to São Francisco Xavier Hospital due to a lack of vacancies in the neonatology service.

“As I have always said, the first person responsible for things that go right or wrong at the ministry of health is the minister and, therefore, the minister understood that an environment was created that required there to be personal responsibility, and I understood that it should be mine,” she stressed. (Ana Raquel Lopes | Lusa.pt)

Source: Euractiv.com