Nelson Luiz Sperle Teich (born 24 July 1957) is a Brazilian oncologist, health consultant and entrepreneur who briefly served as

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

of Brazil, from 17 April 2020 after being appointed by President

Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and retired military officer who has been the 38th president of Brazil since 1 January 2019. He was elected in 2018 as a member of the Social Liberal Party, which he turn ...

to replace outgoing Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta, to his resignation on 15 May 2020 after nearly a month at the helm.

Education and early career

Born in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of the same name, Brazil's List of Brazilian states by population, third-most populous state, and the List of largest citi ...

, Teich holds a degree in medicine from

Rio de Janeiro State University Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ; pt, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro) is a public research university in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is one of the largest and most prestigious universities in the country. The universit ...

(UERJ). He completed his medical residency at the Ipanema Hospital (1987) and studied clinical oncology at the (1990). In 1998, he completed an MBA in health administration at the Institute for Postgraduate Studies and Research in Administration at

UFRJ The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro or University of Brazil (UFRJ; pt, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro or ') is a public research university located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest federal university in the ...

. Teich also holds a master's degree in economic assessment from the

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

. He is a member of the editorial board of the '' American Journal of Medical Quality''.

Career

Teich founded the Integrated Clinical Oncology Group (COI) in 1990, in which he remained as president until 2018. In 2009, he founded the Institute of Management, Education and Research, a non-governmental organization, as president pro bono, with the objective of carrying out clinical research and projects, executing training and education programs in several areas related to care with cancer. Between 2010 and 2011, he provided consultancy to Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

. He is currently the owner of Teich & Teich Health Care, a company that supports health management. He also served as an informal consultant in the electoral campaign of President

in 2018, being one of the postulants to assume the post of

, assumed by his predecessor Luiz Henrique Mandetta. Between September 2019 and January 2020, he served as advisor to the Secretary of Science and Technology for the Ministry of Health, Denizar Vianna.

Minister of Health

Teich was appointed Minister of Health on 16 April 2020 to succeed outgoing minister Henrique Mandetta, who for weeks had disagreements with President Bolsonaro's positions on the policy of

social distancing In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious dise ...

and the use of

hydroxychloroquine Hydroxychloroquine, sold under the brand name Plaquenil among others, is a medication used to prevent and treat malaria in areas where malaria remains sensitive to chloroquine. Other uses include treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, a ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. In his first speech as minister, Teich stated there would be no abrupt changes to the Ministry's current policies, and that health and the economy "are not competing against each other". Teich defends a comprehensive nationwide testing program and further research of treatment and

vaccines A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified.< ...

. On 15 May 2020 Teich officially resigned as minister of health. While he did not give an official statement of his reasoning for resigning, Teich had publicly disagreed with Bolsonaro's government over the handling of the worsening COVID-19 outbreak on several occasions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Teich, Nelson 1957 births Living people People from Rio de Janeiro (city) Health ministers of Brazil Rio de Janeiro State University alumni Alumni of the University of York Brazilian oncologists Brazilian Jews