Brazil lost its second health minister in a month on Friday after President Jair Bolsonaro demanded an endorsement of risky anti-malarial drugs to fight the coronavirus outbreak, adding to turmoil in one of the pandemic's worst global hotspots.
BRASILIA - Brazil lost its second health minister in a month on Friday after President Jair Bolsonaro demanded an endorsement of risky anti-malarial drugs to fight the coronavirus outbreak, adding to turmoil in one of the pandemic’s worst global hotspots.
Bolsonaro had demanded on Thursday that Teich issue federal guidelines for the early use of hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus patients, even though its effectiveness is unproven and there are concerns that it could cause heart problems. Teich gave no reason for quitting in brief comments to journalists on Friday. He had shown himself to be out of step with Bolsonaro’s push to reopen the economy, expressing surprise at a news conference on Monday when he learned of a presidential decree allowing gyms, beauty parlors and hairdressers to open.
“Let us pray,” former minister Mandetta said on Twitter after Teich’s resignation, calling for faith in science and support for Brazil’s public health system. “Bolsonaro does not want a technical minister, he wants someone who agrees with his ideological insanity, like ending social distancing and using chloroquine,” Molon, a lawmaker from the Brazilian Socialist Party, said in a statement.
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