Bolsonaro taps new health minister

Brazil’s President-Elect Jair Bolsonaro confirmed that Federal Deputy Luiz Henrique Mandetta, 53, will take the helm of the country’s Ministry of Health in January 2019. A pediatric orthopedist, Mandetta did not run for re-election, so he is free to take office next year.

“With the of the vast majority of Brazil’s health professionals, I announce Doctor Luiz Mandetta as our future health minister,” Bolsonaro wrote today (Nov. 20) on Twitter.

Bolsonaro said Mandetta will have to make people’s lives easier, even with scarce funds available. The future minister arrived at the government transition cabinet in Brasília early in the afternoon today to meet with Bolsonaro.