New Minister of Health will attend Congress on Tuesday, April 12 and says he is not afraid of censorship

It has been less than a week since Jorge López took over as Minister of Health to replace the questioned Hernán Condori and from now on the word censorship is spoken, only in this case from the mouth of the same member of the cabinet. In statements to the press, he confirmed his attendance at the Congress for Tuesday, April 12, when the Health Commission of that power of the State has raised to hear the plans that the minister has for such an important sector given the health situation.

“I am going to Congress, I would like to tell the general population that my person is working together with all the authorities, tomorrow and Tuesday we will work together with the medical unions to look at the problems of the health sector,” López Peña told the media. It should be recalled that the former minister had a rough relationship with the medical associations, especially with the Medical College of Peru, which repeatedly asked for his resignation, even calling demonstrations in front of the Ministry of Health headquarters.

When asked if he fears possible censorship by the opposition, the current Minister of Health strongly denied that this is his case. “No, I'm not afraid, I'm going to run for Congress,” he said. His performance in office is under the watchful eye of a legislative opposition that drove the censorship of his successor despite granting him, weeks ago, the vote of confidence to the cabinet he was part of. Hernán Condori had to step aside after 71 congressmen voted in favor of his departure given the questioning of his work against Minsa.

WHO IS THE NEW MINISTER OF HEALTH?

Jorge López Peña, like his predecessor, is originally from Junín and held public office in that region, which is the birthplace of Peru Libre, a political party that brought Pedro Castillo to power. This is a surgeon who was president of the Medical Corps of the National Hospital “Ramiro Prialé Prialé”. In addition, he was appointed executive director of the Regional Surgical Clinical Teaching Hospital “Daniel Alcides Carrión” (November 2020-March 2022) during the administration of the regional governor of Junín, Fernando Orihuela Rojas (Free Peru).

He arrived at the Ministry of Health during his previous administration, when Condori invited him to take over the office of the Deputy Ministry of Health, following the resignation of Gustavo Rosell. “The minister asked me for my curriculum, these are high-level positions of trust,” were Lopez's statements to justify his appointment. After five days without someone at the head of Minsa, the president of the republic opted for López to assume the most important portfolio for the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in our country.

A publication by El Comercio, reports on tax investigations in which the current minister would be involved. It is stated that he carries a penalty for acts performed while serving as president of the Medical Corps of the National Hospital “Ramiro Prialé Prialé”. They, for having given false statements about the hospital in April 2020. He would have falsely stated that there was no personal protective equipment in that hospital, that he had not been provided with adequate biosecurity implements for the fight against Covid-19 and that the N95 masks he was distributing were not working.

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