200417 Mandetta
Brazil's Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta has been sacked. Image Credit: AFP

Brasilia: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday that he had appointed oncologist Nelson Teich as the country’s new health minister, shortly after firing his predecessor over disagreements on measures to fight coronavirus.

Bolsonaro, who has criticized social distancing measures for hurting the country’s economy, said in a televized briefing that former minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta had never treated the question of employment as it should have been treated during the pandemic.