Diana Carolina Corcho Mejía (born April 13, 1983)[1] is a Colombian doctor, psychiatrist and political scientist. having served as Minister of Health and Social Protection from August 7, 2022 to April 26, 2023.[2][3]

Carolina Corcho
Minister of Health and Social Protection
In office
August 7, 2022 – April 26, 2023
PresidentGustavo Petro
Preceded byFernando Ruiz
Succeeded byGuillermo Jaramillo
Personal details
Born
Diana Carolina Corcho Mejía

(1983-04-13) April 13, 1983 (age 41)
Medellin, Antioquia, Colombia
Political partyLiberal (since 2007)
EducationPontifical Xavierian University
University of Antioquia

Early life

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Corcho is the daughter of professor and engineer Freddy Hernán Corcho of the National University and deputy to the Antioquia Assembly and of the engineer and former mayor of Zaragoza, Amparo Mejía.[4][5]

Corcho studied medicine at the University of Antioquia and psychiatry at the National University of Colombia. She completed a master's degree in political studies at the Pontifical Bolivarian University.[6][7][8]

Career

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Corcho was president of the South Latin American Corporation, a Civil Society organization that deals with various public policy matters, on agrarian, economic, social, health, and human rights issues, (2018 - 2022). Vice President of the Colombian Medical Federation 2018 - 2022, instance of the medical union, permanent adviser to the National Government on public health and education policies in the sector. Co-founder and member of the Network of Progressive Women of Latin America, scenario of political parties and civil society organizations of the PAOLA group of Latin America, Olof Palme International Center, 2022.[9][10]

Member of the Follow-up Commission of Judgment T-760 for a Structural Reform of the Health System. Consultant civil society body of the Constitutional Court on Public Health Policy, 2022.

She was part of the coordination of the promotion committee of the Social and Political Summit for the Structural Reform of the Health System, convergence between various academic, scientific, civil society and political sectors for the debate and discussion of a proposal for structural reform of the health system that develops the statutory law 1751 of 2015, (2021-2022)

Member of the Great National Medical Board. Body in which the Presidents of medical unions at the national level, co-authors of Statutory Law 1751 of 2015, converge.

Member of the National Mental Health Council, Advisory body of the National Government in matters of Mental Health public policy, on behalf of medical unions and scientific societies, 2017.

PAHO Consultant - Ministry of Health and Social Protection in piloting for the implementation of a syringe exchange model in the heroin consuming population in Colombia (2014).

Through her work at the ANIR, where she served as president, she fought to save the San Juan de Dios Hospital and call for the statutory health law. After these events, she gained notoriety and caught the attention of the then mayor of Bogotá Gustavo Petro who appointed her as director of Social Participation in the Bogotá Ministry of Health between 2014 and 2016.[11]

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ "¿Quién es Carolina Corcho, la ministra de Salud en el gobierno de Gustavo Petro?". Radio Nacional de Colombia. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  2. ^ ""Quizás hemos normalizado la muerte": Carolina Corcho". conexion.uexternado.edu.co. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  3. ^ "Carolina Corcho, Cecilia López y Susana Muhamad se suman al Gabinete de Gustavo Petro". wradio.com.co. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  4. ^ "Diana Carolina Corcho Mejía". lasillavacia.com. 9 August 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  5. ^ "Carolina Corcho la medica activista que lidera la oposicion a la reforma a la salud". las2orillas.co. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  6. ^ "Carolina Corcho, la médica y activista detrás del vuelco a la salud que busca el Gobierno Petro". forbes.co. 13 February 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  7. ^ "¿Quién es Carolina Corcho, la ministra de Salud de Petro, y por qué sus declaraciones han causado polémica?". cnnespañol.cnn.com. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  8. ^ "¿Quién es Carolina Corcho, la ministra de Salud de Gustavo Petro?". elespectador.com. 5 July 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  9. ^ "Carolina Corcho, ministra de Salud y Protección Social". senalmemoria.co. 16 December 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  10. ^ "¿Quién es Carolina Corcho, del equipo de empalme de Petro?". elcolombiano.com. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Este es el perfil de Carolina Corcho, la nueva ministra de Salud de Gustavo Petro". semana.com. 5 August 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
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  Media related to Carolina Corcho at Wikimedia Commons

Political offices
Preceded by
Fernando Ruiz
Minister of Health and Social Protection
2022–2023
Succeeded by
Order of precedence
Preceded byas Former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Order of precedence of Colombia
as Former Cabinet Member
Succeeded by
Ángel Cabrera
as Former Minister of Labour