President Lula decides to replace Health minister

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Tuesday (Feb. 25) decided to replace Health Minister Nísia Trindade, who has held the position since January 2023. Trindade will be succeeded by Alexandre Padilha, the current minister of Institutional Relations and former Health minister from 2011 to 2014.

In a statement, the Planalto presidential palace confirmed that Lula announced Trindade's departure during a meeting on Tuesday afternoon. Padilha’s inauguration is set for March 6.

Shortly before the ministry change was formalized, Trindade participated in a ceremony at the palace, where she announced the production of a 100 percent national, single-dose dengue vaccine by 2026. In a farewell mood, she was the first to speak, asked ministry secretaries to stand for applause for their work, and received a standing ovation from the civil servants present at the event.

Before assuming the Ministry of Health in January 2023, Nísia Trindade served as president of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) since 2017.

Padilha

Born in São Paulo, Alexandre Rocha Santos Padilha is an infectious disease doctor with a degree from the University of São Paulo (USP) and a doctorate in Public Health from the University of Campinas (Unicamp). He is also a university professor.

A re-elected federal representative for the Workers´ Party in São Paulo, he stepped down from office to join President Lula's ministerial team. He previously served as a minister in the Lula (2009-2010) and Dilma Rousseff (2011-2014) administrations, leading the Secretariat for Institutional Relations and the Ministry of Health, respectively.

He also held the same positions during Fernando Haddad's municipal administration (2015-2016) in São Paulo.

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