Former Health minister Ginés González García dies aged 79

Veteran politician and physician Ginés González García, whose lengthy career in public service ended in disgrace during the coronavirus pandemic, has passed away at the age of 79, his family confirmed in a statement.

González García had been hospitalised at the Instituto Quirúrgico del Callao in recent days to receive treatment for a cancer diagnosis he was battling, sources close to the former official informed.

The former official had a long career in public service, serving as health minister four times – once for the Buenos Aires Province government and thrice at the federal level.

News of his passing came less than a day after a City Federal Appeals Court said González García would stand trial for alleged crimes relating to the so-called ‘VIP vaccination’ case.

The scandal refers to a secret government plan through which allies and celebrities were allowed to jump queues for Covid-19 vaccines during the height of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

González García stood accused of “"abuse of authority and embezzlement,” Fellow former government official Marcelo Guille and the director of the Posadas Hospital, Alberto Maceira, also face charges.

The judges overseeing the case have also ordered a further investigation to determine whether those who received vaccines out of turn committed a crime.

“It is with great sadness that we bid farewell to a different man, whose life and legacy have marked a before and after in our lives. Son, brother, father, grandfather and friend. His passage through this world left a mark and an imprint that will continue to open roads in each one of us,” read a statement posted on the ex-official’s social media accounts shortly after midday on Thursday.

“His unwavering conviction for a more just world was a beacon and an example of integrity on an often arduous path. His ability to listen, understand and guide those around him made us all feel part of something bigger,” continued the statement.

“He taught us that true leadership is based on service, empathy, collaboration and consensus. Today, as we mourn his departure, we also celebrate his life.

“We will remember his laughter, his always different look on things, his ideals for a better Argentina, and his eternal passion for Racing [Club],” it concluded.

“Thank you Ginés. For being an extraordinary man, the contemporary healthcare professional who changed paradigms and cultivated his loyalty in a unique way. His memory will live on in our hearts and in every step we take towards a fairer and more caring world,” it concluded.

Rise to government

Born in San Nicolás, Buenos Aires Province, on August 31, 1945, González García graduated as a surgeon from the National University of Córdoba. He also studied at the University of Buenos Aires, winning a diploma in public health.

He held a master's degree in Economics and Public Management from the University of Lomas de Zamora, and in 2019, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate at the University of Morón.

As well as healthcare, González García made a significant impact on politics. Seen as a fiercely Peronist politician, he was admired and criticised in equal measure. 

He served as health minister for Buenos Aires Province under then-governor Antonio Cafiero from 1987 to 1991, before serving more than a decade as the head of the Fundación Isalud, from where he developed several large public health programmes. 

In January 2002, he was appointed national health minister by then-president Eduardo Duhalde, serving throughout his presidency until May 2003.

Upon the change of government later that year, he was kept on by incoming head of state Néstor Kirchner, remaining in post until 2007.

During his time as minister, he pushed through a national prescription drug law that reduced drug prices by mandating the prescriptions of medications under their generic name, severely curtailing the potential profits of medicine makers.

Predictably, it earned him the enmity of many prescription drug companies.

Working under Néstor Kirchner, González García also helped to develop Argentina’s sexual education plan and fought for affordable distribution of contraception and medication. 

But perhaps his most infamous policy quest was his effort to decriminalise and legalise abortion. 

Long-brewing tensions with the Catholic Church ruptured into an explosive conflict in 2007, when the government proposed a law that would have made the public health system provide the morning after pill for free as part of the National Program of Sexual Health and Responsible Procreation. 

A number of clergymen, including the outspoken La Plata Archbishop Hector Aguer, accused him of “creating the climate to decriminalise abortion.” González García responded by saying they’d peddled “lies” that the morning-after pill was the same as having an abortion, despite “scientific proof showing that this is not the case.” 

The escalation prompted him to resign from his post and when the Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (2007-2015) administration took office, he was appointed Argentina's ambassador in Chile, a post he held until Mauricio Macri became president in 2015.

When ex-Cabinet chief Alberto Fernández won the PASO primaries in August 2019, González García’s name was one of the first to be rumoured for the health portfolio in his future government.

The doctor himself announced that he would be “involved in the efforts” of the new administration, “from within or outside the government.” 

González García formally returned to the Executive in December 2019 when new president Alberto Fernández appointed him as the head of the Health Ministry. 

It would prove to be a consequential move. Just a few months after taking office, the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic shifted the priorities of the Health Ministry.

The subsequent ‘VIP vaccine’ furore destroyed the official’s credibility. The scandal broke when journalist Horacio Verbitsky revealed in a radio interview that he had called González García and managed to skip the queue for a vaccine.

In 2021, amid widespread outrage from the public, González García was ejected from office, replaced by Carla Vizzotti.

The episode over the irregular distribution of the vaccines marked the end of the surgeon's career in government and dealt a irrecoverable blow to his reputation.

– TIMES/NA/PERFIL