Juan Luis Manzur

Juan Luis Manzur (born 8 January 1969) is an Argentine surgeon and politician currently serving as a National Senator for Tucumán Province. A member of the Justicialist Party, he previously served as Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers from 2021 to 2023, under President Alberto Fernández. He previously served as Minister of Health of Argentina from 2009 to 2015, and as Governor of Tucumán from 2015 to 2021.

Early life and education

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. Manzur later received a master's degree in Health Systems and Services Administration from the University of Buenos Aires.

Political career

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. One widely used yardstick of public health, the infant mortality rate, fell from 23 per 1,000 births (40% above the national average) in 2003, to 13 in 2006 (matching the national average).DEIS: indicadores básicos, 2005 (2003 data)
The perinatal mortality rate (a late fetal death, or of an infant under one week old) likewise fell during the same period in Tucumán from 24 to 18 per 1,000 births. These news helped Manzur secure Governor Alperovich's nod to be a running mate for his successful, 2007 bid for re-election.

Health minister

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. 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. Staunch opposition from the powerful Roman Catholic Church in Argentina forced Manzur to reverse steps toward protecting women's reproductive rights, cancelling proposals in 2010 that would have guarantee access to legal abortions.

He stepped down as Health Minister in February 2015 to return to the post of Vice Governor of Tucumán, and was expected to run to succeed Governor Alperovich in provincial elections later in the year.

Cabinet Chief

On 20 September 2021, Manzur was appointed Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers by President Alberto Fernández in replacement of Santiago Cafiero. Manzur's appointment was part of a cabinet reshuffle following the government's poor showings in the 2021 legislative primary elections. Manzur did not resign from his position as governor of Tucumán, instead taking a leave of office while vice governor Osvaldo Jaldo assumed interim executive powers.

References

External links

Official website of the Governorship of Tucumán
(in Spanish)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manzur, Juan Luis
1969 births
Living people
Argentine Maronites
Argentine people of Lebanese descent
Argentine surgeons
Chiefs of Cabinet of Ministers of Argentina
Alberto Fernández administration cabinet members
Fernández de Kirchner administration cabinet members
Justicialist Party politicians
Members of the Argentine Senate for Tucumán
Maronite politicians
Ministers of health of Argentina
People from San Miguel de Tucumán
University of Buenos Aires alumni