Censorship of Hernán Condori: Former Health Ministers Concerned About Ignoring Other Diseases Due to COVID-19

The censorship of Hernán Condori by the Congress of the Republic prompted former health ministers to give their perspectives on what the country will have in store in this sector, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and other problems of the system.

In that sense, Victor Zamora, head of the Ministry of Health (Minsa) in the administration of former President Martín Vizcarra, lamented that Condori's dismissal came just as the vaccination capacity against the deadly virus has been reduced and there is a resurgence of positive cases in other countries.

“We cannot be happy about a situation that denotes a weakness in the management of the health sector. Nobody wants the sector to have such a large turnover of ministers when the country is still facing a pandemic,” he told ATV+.

“In the case of Condori, whom I don't know, he had already been strongly questioned because of his technical and managerial qualities, coupled with a weak capacity for political mobilization, he had the rejection of almost the entire Congress, as has been said today,” he added.

On the exchange of Hernando Cevallos for Hernán Condori, Zamora explained this decision by President Pedro Castillo using a football analogy, referring to the matches of the Peruvian national team heading to the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

“He was the best player on the court, but they put another player rejected by the tribune, scored an own-goal. We had a coach who endangered the whole team, and the team is all of us, the health of all of us,” he explained.

He also stated that, apart from the problems caused by COVID-19, there are many other ills and diseases that the health system must combat, which has been abandoned. All this must be faced by whoever holds the position of Minister of Health on the spot, Zamora said.

“Problems continue in the pandemic. The fall in vaccination coverage, but on the other hand the care of our patients with COVID-19 sequelae. Basically in rehabilitation and in some who need surgical interventions. Everything derived from COVID-19 has slowed down or slowed down,” he said.

“In addition, there is everything non-covid. Patients waiting for their care and drugs from cancer, the fall of the program of tuberculosis, HIV, etc. The person assigned to the head of the Ministry of Health has a great task, because the country's health cannot wait,” he said.

For his part, Abel Salinas, Minister of Health in Manuel Merino's brief administration, congratulated the work of Congress by removing Condori from office in Minsa. “I welcome the decision of our congressmen. It is a topic that fell from mature. The questioning of Minister Condori was given because of his previous record and allegations. Ethical and professional complaints by the Medical Association, as well as complaints in the Public Prosecutor's Office, on the charges in which he had previously held,” he told ATV.

“But, of course, Minister Condori did his thing with a management that leaves much to be desired, probably due to the incapacity and lack of competence, which has forced censorship,” he continued.

Salinas considered it a “grave mistake” and “transcendent” that President Pedro Castillo had appointed Condori without knowing the accusations against him, and he directly invoked the head of the Council of Ministers, Aníbal Torres, to appoint suitable people to the position amid the pandemic of COVID-19.

“Now we have to urge the premier (Aníbal Torres) to propose to the new Minister of Health to know the person, who must meet the competences that are required at this time: a decrease in vaccination or that we have vaccines close to expiring today,” he said.

“It was urgent to replace it. You can't play with public health. The designation must meet the requirements of Peru at this time,” he added.

Finally, he regretted all the decisions of the Pedro Castillo government. “In 8 months, there are 50 ministers that there have been in this period. Unfortunately, there is a lot of dissatisfaction. We have budding inflation, little investment, little growth. That is an issue that must necessarily be corrected by the Government,” he concluded.

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