New Brazil health minister aims to spare economy from virus

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s new health minister was sworn into office on Friday, after pledging to work not only to save lives from the new coronavirus, but also to spare the economy.

Nelson Teich, an oncologist, replaced the prior minister who had garnered support for his handling of the pandemic that included promotion of broad isolation measures enacted by state governors. Those measures had drawn the ire of President Jair Bolsonaro, who has said shutting down the economy would cause more damage than confining only high-risk Brazilians. He has also repeatedly described the virus as a “little flu,” and touted the yet-unproven efficacy of an anti-malarial drug.

“Life is priceless, but the economy and employment need to return to normality,” Bolsonaro said at a press conference on Thursday, adding that doesn’t mean doing so as fast as possible.

Teich’s career makes clear his trajectory has been focused on the business side of medicine. He was founder and president of a group of oncology clinics, and more recently has worked as senior health care consultant at a medical services company that bears his name, according to his LinkedIn page. He also has a Master’s degree in health economics, Master in Business Administration and has done a management course for company owners and presidents at Harvard University's business school.

Local media had reported for weeks that Bolsonaro favored two other people for the health minister post, both of whom were critics of broad isolation measures and cheerleaders of the use of chloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients. One was lawmaker Osmar Terra who, according to fact-checking organization Aos Fatos, is the Brazilian congressman who spreads the most fake news about COVID-19 on social media.

Teich became the nominee after a series of conversations that the...