Padilha says that Nísia Trindade remains in charge of the Ministry of Health

The Minister of Institutional Relations, Alexandre Padilha, stated this Tuesday (19) that Minister Nísia Trindade will remain in charge of the Ministry of Health. Earlier, she met with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). The meeting took place amid criticism of the minister’s performance and political pressure. Padilha classified speculation about Nísia’s possible dismissal as “gossip”.

“President Lula made it very clear, including at the meeting [ministerial]who at no point considered any possibility of changing Minister Nísia”, said the minister in an interview with the program Speakerphonein radio CBN.

“I would say that it is a luxury for Brazil to have in the Ministry of Health someone with her history in public health, she was a prominent figure in the fight against the pandemic, she played a fundamental role in achieving the vaccine, all the work done by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, and her being at the Ministry of Health is also a celebration of all those who made an effort for science to face the pandemic”, he highlighted.

Padilha stated that this Tuesday’s meeting is a follow-up carried out by Lula with all the ministers. Currently, the Ministry of Health is facing the health emergency of the Yanomami people, the dengue epidemic and the crisis in federal hospitals in Rio de Janeiro.

Asked about the pressure against the minister and an alleged influence that would have on Nísia’s performance as she had already commanded the department, Padilha denied this and attributed these speculations to “machismo”.

“On the basis of gossip, I think that, sometimes, there is a bit of machismo in this, of thinking that a woman, alone, does not lead the ministry, and she is saying so. In fact, yesterday at the meeting, she commented that they say that she You have to speak harshly, and she said the following: ‘I’m not going to speak harshly because I’m not a man. I’m going to speak firmly, softly’, and President Lula even reaffirmed this”, he pointed out.

“Often [as pessoas] They think that a woman alone does not lead a ministry, she leads through its history… I am absolutely certain that Nísia, together with her team, is capable of facing the problems that Health has”, stated Padilha.