Jesús Kumate Rodríguez (13 November 1924 – 7 May 2018) was a Mexican physician and politician. He served as the

Secretary 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. Count ...

during the Presidency of

Carlos Salinas de Gortari Carlos Salinas de Gortari CYC DMN (; born 3 April 1948) is a Mexican economist and politician who served as 60th president of Mexico from 1988 to 1994. Affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), earlier in his career he wo ...

Early life and education

Kumate Rodríguez was born in Mazatlán in 1924 to a Japanese emigrant father and a Sinaloense mother who worked as a rural teacher. He graduated as a surgeon in 1946 from the

Escuela Médico Militar The Escuela Médico Militar is a medical school of the Mexican army and Mexican air force for medical training. The school is located in Mexico City, Mexico. History The school was founded as ''Escuela Constitucionalista Médico Militar'' by ...

and became a

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

at the

Instituto Politécnico Nacional The National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico ( es, Instituto Politécnico Nacional de México; ), abbreviated IPN, is one of the largest public universities in Mexico with 171,581 students at the high school, undergraduate and postgraduate l ...

in 1963.

Career

During his tenure as Secretary of Health, Kumate Rodríguez oversaw the implementation of universal

vaccination Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...

, the eradication of

poliomyelitis Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe sym ...

, the combat against a cholera outbreak, the updating of epidemiological surveillance and the drastic decrease of

infant mortality Infant mortality is the death of young children under the age of 1. This death toll is measured by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the probability of deaths of children under one year of age per 1000 live births. The under-five morta ...

Honours

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

, ''Chevalier'' and ''Officier'' * Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor, 2006

References

External links

''Curriculum Vitae'' – Jesús Kumate Rodríguez
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumate Rodriguez, Jesus 1924 births 2018 deaths Mexican Secretaries of Health Mexican surgeons Politicians from Sinaloa People from Mazatlán Mexican politicians of Japanese descent 20th-century Mexican politicians Instituto Politécnico Nacional alumni