Juan Luis Manzur

Juan Luis Manzur
Ministry of Health of Argentina
In office
July 1, 2009 – February 26, 2015
President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Preceded by Graciela Ocaña
Succeeded by Daniel Gollán
Deputy Governor of Tucumán
In office
December 10, 2007 – July 1, 2009
Preceded by Fernando Juri
Succeeded by Sergio Mansilla
Minister of Health of Tucumán
In office
December 10, 2003 – December 10, 2007
Governor José Alperovich
Succeeded by Pablo Raúl Yedlin
Personal details
Born January 8, 1969
San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina
Nationality Argentine
Political party Front for Victory
Alma mater National University of Tucumán
University of Buenos Aires
Religion Maronite Catholic

Juan Luis Manzur (born January 8, 1969) is an Argentine surgeon and politician, currently Minister of Health and Environment to the President.

Biography

Manzur was born in San Miguel de Tucumán to a Maronite Catholic father from Lebanon and an Argentine mother. He received a medical degree from the University of Tucumán and completed his residency at the public Álvarez Hospital, in Buenos Aires.[1] Manzur later received a master's degree in Health Systems and Services Administration from the University of Buenos Aires.

Following a stint as Vice Minister of Health for the Province of San Luis, in 2002 he was named Public Health Secretary of the District of La Matanza, a western, mainly blue-collar suburb of the Argentine capital. Recommended by the National Health Minister, Ginés González García, Manzur was appointed Health Minister of Tucumán Province by the new Governor, José Alperovich, in 2003. Manzur soon earned plaudits in his post, which oversaw public health in one of Argentina's least-developed provinces.[2] One widely used yardstick of public health, the infant mortality rate, fell from 23 per 1,000 births (50% above the national average) in 2003 to 13, in 2006 (matching the national average).[3][4] These news helped Manzur secure Governor Alperovich's nod to be a running mate for his successful, 2007 bid for re-election.[5]

The reported accomplishment was clouded, however, by accusations published in June 2008 in the Buenos Aires daily Crítica de la Argentina, that the headline statistic had been manipulated by Manzur's office by allegedly counting neonatal mortality (the death of an infant under one month) as perinatal mortality (a late fetal death, or of an infant under one week old). It's worth noting that the World Health Organization classifies perinatal deaths within these parameters,[6] and that in any case, the published rate of perinatal deaths fell from 24 to 18 per 1,000 births in Tucumán.[3][7] Crítica reiterated its 2008 accusations in its June 30, 2009, news story on Manzur's pick, though the Minister-designee replaced his predecessor, Graciela Ocaña, as scheduled.[5]

Manzur was sworn in on July 1, the day after a public health emergency was declared over a worsening H1N1 virus ("swine flu") epidemic, which had claimed 44 fatalities by the time he was sworn in.[8] His tenure would thereafter be focused on expanding childhood immunizations, childhood preventive medicine, diagnostic care against coeliac disease and HPV, mobile health, access to organ transplants, and smoking cessation programs.[9][10]

References

  1. ↑ Clarín (Spanish)
  2. ↑ Clarín: Se redujo la tasa de mortalidad infantil (Spanish)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 DEIS: indicadores básicos, 2005 (2003 data)
  4. ↑ DEIS: Boletín 121 (2007 data)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Crítica: Manzur es el nuevo Ministro de Salud (Spanish)
  6. ↑ WHO: Neonatal and perinatal mortality, introduction, pg.1
  7. ↑ DEIS: indicadores básicos, 2008 (2006 data)
  8. ↑ La Nación: Destinan mil millones de pesos para combatir la gripe A (Spanish)
  9. ↑ "Vacunaron al 86% de grupos vulnerables". Río Negro.
  10. ↑ "Argentina: 2012 marcó un nuevo récord en donación y trasplantes". La Voz del Interior.