Juan Luis Manzur

Juan Luis Manzur
210 px
Governor of Tucumán
Incumbent
Assumed office October 29, 2015
Lieutenant	Osvaldo Jaldo
Preceded by	José Alperovich
Vice Governor of Tucumán
In office February 27, 2015 – October 29, 2015
Governor	José Alperovich
Preceded by	Regino Amado
Succeeded by	Osvaldo Jaldo
Ministry of Health of Argentina
In office July 1, 2009 – February 26, 2015
President	Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Preceded by	Graciela Ocaña
Succeeded by	Daniel Gollán
Vice Governor of Tucumán
In office December 10, 2007 – July 1, 2009
Governor	José Alperovich
Preceded by	Fernando Juri
Succeeded by	Sergio Mansilla
Minister of Health of Tucumán
In office December 10, 2003 – December 10, 2007
Governor	José Alperovich
Succeeded by	Pablo Yedlin
Personal details
Born	(1969-01-08) January 8, 1969 San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina
Nationality	Argentine
Political party	Front for Victory
Alma mater	National University of Tucumán University of Buenos Aires
Religion	Maronite Catholic

Juan Luis Manzur (born January 8, 1969) is an Argentine surgeon and politician. He served as Minister of Health and Environment of Argentina from 2009 to 2015, and is currently Vice Governor of Tucumán Province.

Biography

Manzur was born in San Miguel de Tucumán to a Maronite Catholic father from Lebanon and an Argentine mother. He received a medical degree from the University of Tucumán and completed his residency at the public Álvarez Hospital, in Buenos Aires. Manzur later received a master's degree in Health Systems and Services Administration from the University of Buenos Aires.

Following a stint as Vice Minister of Health for the Province of San Luis, in 2002 he was named Public Health Secretary of the District of La Matanza, a western, mainly blue-collar suburb of the Argentine capital. Recommended by the National Health Minister, Ginés González García, Manzur was appointed Health Minister of Tucumán Province by the new Governor, José Alperovich, in 2003. Manzur soon earned plaudits in his post, which oversaw public health in one of Argentina's least-developed provinces. One widely used yardstick of public health, the infant mortality rate, fell from 23 per 1,000 births (40% above the national average) in 2003, to 13 in 2006 (matching the national average). The perinatal mortality rate (a late fetal death, or of an infant under one week old) likewise fell during the same period in Tucumán from 24 to 18 per 1,000 births. These news helped Manzur secure Governor Alperovich's nod to be a running mate for his successful, 2007 bid for re-election.

Manzur was sworn in on July 1, the day after a public health emergency was declared over a worsening H1N1 virus ("swine flu") epidemic, which had claimed 44 fatalities by the time he was sworn in. His tenure would thereafter be focused on expanding childhood immunizations, childhood preventive medicine, diagnostic care against coeliac disease and HPV, mobile health, access to organ transplants, and smoking cessation programs. Staunch opposition from the powerful Roman Catholic Church in Argentina forced Manzur to reverse steps toward protecting women's reproductive rights, cancelling proposals in 2010 that would have guarantee access to legal abortions.

He stepped down as Health Minister in February 2015 to return to the post of Vice Governor of Tucumán, and was expected to run to succeed Governor Alperovich in provincial elections later in the year.

References

Preceded by José Alperovich

Governor of Tucumán 2015–present

Incumbent