Agency Reporter
Brazil’s health minister Nelson Teich resigned on Friday after less than a month in office, reportedly amid differences with President Jair Bolsonaro over handling the country’s growing coronavirus outbreak.
The minister’s office said he had handed in his resignation and would hold a press conference later in the day.
Mr Bolsonaro has been pushing in recent days for wider use of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for coronavirus, something Mr Teich rejected. There are doubts over its effectivness and safety.
The right-wing president is a vocal critic of the stay-at-home measures.
They have also disagreed on the pace of kick-starting the economy.
Last week, the minister said he was not consulted before Mr Bolsonaro issued a decree allowing gyms, beauty parlours and hairdressers to open for business.
His resignation came a day after Brazil’s confirmed cases of the virus passed 200,000, with more than 14,000 deaths.
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Mr Teich took office on April 17 after Mr Bolsonaro sacked former health minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta, whose support for lockdown measures went against the president’s wishes to keep the economy going.
“Life is priceless, but the economy and employment need to return to norm,” Bolsonaro said at the time.
Mr Teich, an oncologist and senior consultant at medical services company Teich Health Care, said at a press conference to announce his appointment that he and the president were “completely aligned”.
(www.newsnow.co.uk)
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