Lisbon, Sept. 1 (BNA): Portugal’s Health Minister Marta Temido resigned on Tuesday after widespread criticism of her decision to temporarily shut down emergency obstetric services, forcing her to transport precariously pregnant women between hospitals.
The Ministry of Health said in a statement that Temedo decided to step down because she “realized that she no longer had the conditions to remain in the position,” Reuters reported.
In a separate statement, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said he accepted her resignation and thanked Temido for her work, which included organizing a successful vaccination campaign against COVID-19.
The government has taken this measure to shut down emergency obstetric services, especially on weekends, as many hospitals did not have enough doctors during the summer holidays.
Opposition parties and municipalities criticized the minister because pregnant women sometimes had to make perilous trips to remote hospitals.
Temedo’s resignation came hours after it was reported that a pregnant woman died on Saturday after suffering a cardiac arrest while being transported by ambulance from the main hospital of Santa Maria in Lisbon, which has no vacancies in the neonatal service, to another hospital in the capital.
Temedo became health minister in October 2018, and last year was among the government’s most popular members thanks to the success of the vaccination campaign, according to opinion polls.
But recently her star has faded due to employment and other problems in many public hospitals and after thousands of doctors presented so-called refusals of responsibility, citing poor working conditions and extreme fatigue.