Óscar Raúl Ugarte Ubilluz (born 30 October 1944) is a

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

vian physician who is the current

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 spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

under President

Francisco Sagasti Francisco Rafael Sagasti Hochhausler (; born 10 October 1944) is a Peruvian engineer, academic, politician, and author who served as the President of Peru from November 2020 to July 2021. Sagasti has worked as an advisor for economic developme ...

since 13 February 2021. He previously held the position under President

Alan García Alan Gabriel Ludwig García Pérez (; 23 May 1949 – 17 April 2019) was a Peruvian politician who served as President of Peru for two non-consecutive terms from 1985 to 1990 and from 2006 to 2011. He was the second leader of the American Popula ...

from October 2008 to July 2011.

Biography

Born in eastern city of

Pucallpa Pucallpa (, ; Shipibo language, Shipibo: ''May Ushin'') is a city in eastern Peru located on the banks of the Ucayali River, a major tributary of the Amazon River. It is the capital of the Ucayali region, the Coronel Portillo Province and the C ...

, Ugarte studied

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

at the

National University of San Marcos The National University of San Marcos (, UNMSM) is a public university, public research university located in Lima, the capital of Peru. In the Americas, it is the first officially established (Privilege (legal ethics), privilege by Charles V, ...

, where he attained his

medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...

degree. Upon completing medical school, he earned a

master of Public Policy The Master of Public Policy (MPP) is a graduate-level professional degree. It provides training in policy analysis and program evaluation at public policy schools. The MPP program places a focus on the systematic analysis of issues related to pu ...

from the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...

Career

In his professional career in the public health sector, Ugarte served as consultant for the

United Nations Population Fund The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is a United Nations System, UN agency aimed at improving reproductive health, reproductive and maternal health worldwide. Its work includes developing national healthcare strategies and protocols, incr ...

, and taught public health at the

University of San Martín de Porres The University of San Martin de Porres (USMP) is a private nonprofit university located in the city of Lima, Peru. It was founded by the Dominican Order of the Catholic Church in 1962. History The Dominican foundation: Pro Deo T ...

Political career

Briefly during the presidency of

Alejandro Toledo Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique (; born 28 March 1946) is a Peruvian former politician who served as President of Peru, from 2001 to 2006. He gained international prominence after leading the opposition against president Alberto Fujimori, w ...

, Ugarte served as Deputy Minister of Health from January to December 2002. Subsequently, he served in advisory positions related to public health at the start of the

second presidency of Alan García The second presidency of Alan García (2006–2011) began with the successful economic growth of the country recovering from the crisis of the first presidency of Alan García in the 1980s. Presidents Alberto Fujimori (1990–2000) and Alejand ...

Minister of Health

First tenure

Following the resignation of Jorge del Castillo's cabinet in October 2008, García appointed him as

, serving through the administration till July 2011. During the 2009 outbreak of influenza A (H1N1), Ugarte announced to the country that an Argentine citizen had said virus. This was later denied, as the tests were concluded without the factor N1 being confirmed. The media criticized him for this fact, but President

defended him and congratulated him for his pessimism regarding the statement that the virus was already in Peru. After the arrival of the virus was verified, Ugarte began a national prevention campaign.

Second tenure

Almost a decade since he left office, Ugarte was called-up to return to the government upon the resignation of

Pilar Mazzetti Pilar Elena Mazzetti Soler (born 9 September 1956) is a Peruvian physician and health administrator who served as Minister of Health from July 2020 to February 2021, excluding her for nine days from office during the brief presidency of Manuel M ...

from the Ministry of Health due to Congress promoting a vote of no confidence against her for keeping secret former president

Martín Vizcarra Martín Alberto Vizcarra Cornejo (; born 22 March 1963) is a Peruvian engineer and politician who served as President of Peru from 2018 to 2020. Vizcarra Martín Vizcarra's governorship of Moquegua, previously served as List of regional governor ...

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

vaccination from Sinopharm Group in early September 2020, while Peruvians struggled throughout the

pandemic A pandemic ( ) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic (epi ...

. He sworn in by President

on 13 February 2021. On 14 July 2021, during a protest near the Government Palace, his vehicle was attacked by supporters of

presidential candidate A candidate, or nominee, is a prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position. For example, one can be a candidate for membership in a group or election to an office, in which case a ...

and

Popular Force Popular Force (, FP), known as Force 2011 () until 2012, is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and Fujimorism, Fujimorist political party in Peru. The party is led by Keiko Fujimori, former congresswoman and daughter of former Presiden ...

leader

Keiko Fujimori Keiko Sofía Fujimori Higuchi (, , Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: , ; born 25 May 1975) is a Peruvian politician and business administrator. Fujimori is the eldest daughter of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori and Susana Higuchi. From ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ugarte, Óscar Living people People from Pucallpa Government ministers of Peru 1944 births Peruvian Humanist Party politicians 20th-century Peruvian physicians Peruvian public health doctors College of Our Lady of Guadalupe alumni