Fiocruz Director to Become Brazil's Health Minister

On Thursday, President-elect Lula da Silva announced that Nisia Trindade-Lima will be Health Minister when he assumes his third term on January 1.

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Since 2017, Trindade-Lima has been the president of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), which is Latin America's largest institution for health-related scientific research.

"She will be the first woman to lead the Health Ministry in the Brazilian history. She receives a ministry discarded by the Bolsonaro administration and has the immense challenge of preparing the country for a new of COVID-19 wave," journalist Italo Belarmino said, emphasizing that "the new government believes in science!"

During the pandemic, Trinidade-Lima, who is an academic and PhD in Sociology, spearheaded Fiocruz's efforts to produce millions of COVID-19 vaccines that were used in Brazil and other Latin American countries.

This 64-year-old woman, who has been in charge of over 12,000 workers, technicians and scientists at Fiocruz, will lead a ministry that should serve at least 213 million Brazilians, who were literally forgotten during the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro.

During her tenure at Fiocruz, Trindade-Lima emphasized the social value of science, promoted technological innovation, and transformed her health research center into a global player.

Among her most outstanding achievements are the construction of a reference hospital center for COVID-19 treatment and research, the development of tests to identify coronavirus variants, epidemiological support for the most vulnerable people, and the mass production of the AstraZeneca vaccine.