Marta Alexandra Fartura Braga Temido de Almeida Simões (born 2 March 1974) is a Portuguese politician who served as

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

under

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

António Costa António Luís Santos da Costa GCIH (; born 17 July 1961) is a Portuguese lawyer and politician serving as the 119th and current prime minister of Portugal since 26 November 2015, presiding over the XXI (2015–2019), XXII (2019–2022) and ...

, between 15 October 2018 and 10 September 2022. She has submitted her resignation from the post on 30 August 2022 and ended her functions on 10 September 2022. Initially she was an Independent minister, invited to perform the role without affiliation to the governing parties, but in August 2021 she joined the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

(PS).

Early life and education

Temido has a law degree and a master's degree in health economics and management from the

University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a Public university, public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coi ...

, as well as a PhD in international health from the

NOVA University of Lisbon NOVA University Lisbon ( pt, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, ), or just NOVA, is a Portuguese public university whose rectorate is located in Campolide, Lisbon. Founded in 1973, it is the newest of the public universities in the Portuguese capital ...

Career

Before taking on government duties, Temido was deputy director of the ''Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical'' at

, non-executive chairman of the administration of the ''Hospital da Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa'' (Portuguese Red Cross) and a member of the administration of several public hospitals. From 2016 to 2017, Temido served as the president of the board of directors of the Central Administration of the Health System (ACSS). Temido became well-known in Portugal during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, appearing almost daily at press conferences. When Portugal held the rotating

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by a ...

of the

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...

in 2021, Temido chaired the meetings of its

Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) is a configuration of the Council of the European Union. It meets four times a year, with two of the meetings focusing on social policy and employment. It is composed of t ...

, in which she stressed the need for the EU to make joint purchases of vaccines.Gabriela Baczynska (6 January 2021)
Individual COVID vaccine deals cannot undermine EU joint orders, Portugal says
''

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''. After resigning from the position of Minister of Health in September of 2022, Temido has been serving as an MP from the district of Coimbra in the Assembly of the Republic. Being speculated as the socialist candidate for the next Lisbon Mayoral Election as well as a possible contender for the next Socialist Leadership Election, Temido was elected in July 2023 as the Chair of the Lisbon Socialist Party and has been appointed, alongside the minister

Ana Catarina Mendes Ana Catarina Mendes (born 1973) is a Portuguese politician. As a member of the Portuguese Socialist Party (PS) she has been a deputy in the Portuguese Assembly of the Republic since 1995 and, from 2019, led the party in the National Assembly. I ...

, as one of the possible leading candidates of the Socialist List for the

2024 European Parliament election 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

References

1974 births Living people Portuguese politicians Health ministers of Portugal Women government ministers of Portugal People from Coimbra Independent politicians in Portugal 21st-century Portuguese women politicians 21st-century Portuguese politicians University of Coimbra alumni NOVA University Lisbon alumni {{Portugal-politician-stub