ARGENTINE HEALTH MINISTER RESIGNS JOB MID-PANDEMIC

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000752 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR OES/IHB - P. MURPHY AND D. WILUSZ E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TBIO SOCI PGOV PREL AMED ELAB AR SUBJECT: ARGENTINE HEALTH MINISTER RESIGNS JOB MID-PANDEMIC REF: BUENOS AIRES 0742 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Argentine Minister of Health Graciela Ocana has resigned the day after the GOA lost big in mid-term legislative elections. Ocana reportedly resigned due to her belief that she was not getting the support she needed to combat an ongoing dengue crisis that has been partly eclipsed by the recent outbreak of H1N1 influenza. She had also indicated to confidantes that she was exhausted from doing battle with government-allied labor leader Hugo Moyano over health care funds. Her appointed replacement will take office on July 1. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) Minister Ocana, once the darling of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (CFK) for her efforts to root out corruption and inefficiency in the Ministry of Health, began to encounter problems in 2008 after the resignation in July of Cabinet Chief Alberto Fernandez, her mentor in the administration. The next blow came with a triple murder related to ephedrine that was traced to a political fundraiser and fund manager in her Ministry. Despite pressure from government allies, she managed to have the individual fired. It was the last support she received from government. Ocana was said to heavily rely on her direct relationship with President Fernandez de Kirchner to stay in her job. But she was also waging a war for millions of pesos in subsidies for union-run health schemes against one of the government's leading allies, Hugo Moyano, the head of the General Labor Confederation (CGT),Argentina's largest union umbrella group. ¶3. (SBU) Ocana was widely criticized during this past austral summer's dengue epidemic. Despite trying to work with Chaco province, a center of the outbreak, the Governor and his wife (the Provincial Minister of Health) refused to acknowledge the severity of the epidemic, thus allowing the disease to spread. (Note: One of the nation's top columnists yesterday reported that three defogging machines sent to Chaco to kill dengue larvae are being used instead to spray cotton fields belonging to political supporters.) ¶4. (SBU) Ocana's lack of support was painfully evident last week when, in light of a significant increase in influenza cases and deaths, her request for a meeting of the H1N1 Crisis Committee to discuss prevention measures was postponed by higher-ups. She also faced strong opposition from the Minister of Health of the Province of Buenos Aires, Dr. Claudio Zin, who until recently was considered the front-runner to be her replacement. Ocana's recommendation to declare a sanitary emergency that would allow health authorities to provide additional measures without extensive bureaucratic delays and to shut down cinemas and public gathering spaces found no support. She was criticized for her lack of medical and public health credentials both within the government and by medical and health associations. Her detractors used her lack of credentials to blame her for the "technical problems" that hampered the GOA response to both the dengue and H1N1 epidemics. Her struggle with the CGT's Moyano boosted her credentials as an anti-corruption crusader, but did not suffice to keep her in office. ¶5. (U) The appointment of Dr. Juan Luis Manzur, current Lieutenant Governor of the northwestern province of Tucuman, as her replacement was announced June 29 by Cabinet Chief Sergio Massa. Massa said Manzur would take office on July 1. Manzur is a surgeon with a Master's degree in Public Health Administration, and has previously served as the Vice-Minister of Health for the province of San Luis, and the Secretary of Health of La Matanza (population 1.2 million, in the province of Buenos Aires),one of the largest public health organizations in the country. ¶6. (U) The H1N1 Crisis Committee is expected to meet June 29 to evaluate whether a declaration of a sanitary emergency is indicated. Chief of Cabinet Sergio Massa is scheduled to give a press conference after the meeting to provide an update. Kelly