Dmitry Pinevich appointed acting healthcare minister of Belarus

Dmitry Pinevich will serve as acting healthcare minister of Belarus. The relevant decision was made by the head of state Aleksandr Lukashenko on 24 August.

Until now, Dmitry Pinevich worked as the first deputy healthcare minister.

Former Healthcare Minister Vladimir Karanik has been appointed Chairman of the Grodno Oblast Executive Committee.

“The former healthcare minister has been sent to Grodno Oblast and began to work there. Today he should be here in Minsk to hand over responsibilities and return to Grodno in the afternoon. Naturally, the position of healthcare minister cannot remain vacant. Therefore, Dmitry Pinevich will perform these duties. You [Natalia Kochanova, Chairperson of the Council of the Republic and the President's envoy to the city of Minsk] will bear responsibility for this as you have proposed this nomination, which was supported by others. But you are responsible for the state of affairs in the city of Minsk,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The head of state praised the good work to tackle the spread of coronavirus in the difficult times. “I must admit that we worked well, especially in the second period of the spread of this virus. Maybe at the very beginning we were not active enough, did not understand some things. Very quickly, however, we sorted things out, re-purposed clinics for coronavirus patients, provided lung ventilators, adequate medical treatment and helped the regions. This is a big plus for your professional career, both for yours and Natalya Kochanova’s, as the President’s envoy to Minsk,” said the President.

In his words, the coronavirus is still here. “Thanks God, we do not have this second wave as in Europe. I must say, however, that all those street gatherings have negative consequences, and because of them we do not have the same decline in numbers as it used to be. I hope the situation will stay at today's level. It would be great to reduce these numbers to an absolute minimum. As for today, we are having a low morbidity rate. It is clear why,” the President said.

“We will handle it. This problem is no longer as big as it was in March, April and so on,” the Belarusian leader said.

He stated that other diseases must not be disregarded. “Cardiovascular diseases, cancer, asthma and many others have not gone anywhere. We must not forget about these patients. I ask you to pay attention to this,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.