Congress to debate motion of censure against minister of health this Thursday

While the second vacancy motion against President Pedro Castillo has been overcome, the Congress still has its sights on various members of the Executive, including the Minister of Health Hernán Condori. The questioned headline is the protagonist of a motion of censure that will be debated in plenary this Thursday, March 31 from 9:00 a.m., after being questioned less than two weeks ago.

While Condori responded to an interpelatory statement about his career and management, part of the opposition in Congress was not satisfied and secured the 33 signatures needed to start the process he faces today. Over the past few days, the Minister of Health has been criticized for the slow progress in the vaccination process and the alleged possibility that several batches of vaccines will be spoiled due to the low attendance of citizens in vaccination centers.

“Hernán Condori Machado has not demonstrated the ability to hold office either. Thus, from a review of the resume and experience in public health management, it can be seen that the Minister of Health was appointed as regional director of health in Junín on January 2, 2020 and remained in office until January 8 of the same year. On that occasion he was removed from office due to lack of suitability to hold office,” says the motion against him.

The document also recalls questions about the promotion of a product whose effectiveness had not been scientifically proven. In addition, at a press conference he assured that the product had been endorsed by the FDA when the organization had not issued any pronouncement on the matter and had not even started an investigation into the characteristics of the product.

“Mr. Hernán Yury Condori Machado, wearing the clothing of a doctor, informed potential consumers that the purchase and consumption of the product would contribute to improving their health, thus giving a message that is allegedly misleading,” the motion reads.

CONTROVERSIAL MANAGEMENT

As Peru has not yet officially completed the third wave of infections, official and external health voices continue to emphasize the importance of the population going to vaccination centers to acquire the doses needed to combat the COVID-19 virus; however, during Condori's administration the flow of visits to vaccinations has decreased markedly.

“The point is that since there are no longer many cases of deaths, you don't see black bags of bodies of these patients on the streets because of this disease that has mourned the country. As you can no longer see, people also do not realize that this disease has not disappeared, so we have the vaccination points practically empty”, was the phrase with which the minister tried to justify the absence of citizens in vaccinations.

At the beginning of March, the head of immunizations of the Ministry of Health announced her departure from office due to the mismanagement of Hernán Condori. “It was strictly necessary to have a structural organization functioning where there is a fundamental characteristic that is the technical element that we have definitely seen it deteriorate in recent weeks. This puts the activities of the immunization strategy at risk, being this the main measure of specific protection against COVID-19,” said the resigning official to the press. In addition, he noted that his team was not taken into account in important decisions about the vaccination process.

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