Those who honored her agree that her greatest recognition was having been the first pediatric specialist in the country.
María Teresa Forero de Saade, former Minister of Health and Labor in the 90s, died this Sunday after a long illness. The union paid tribute to him for his achievements in the public and private sectors.
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Saade’s doctor was in charge of the Health portfolio on two occasions in the governments of Belisario Betancur and Ernesto Samper, although she was first vice minister, and accompanied Virgilio Barco as head of the Labor portfolio.
The Colombian Association of Palliative Care described her as “an academic and visionary woman, who always supported palliative care and was a fundamental part of the foundation of our association,” because it was thanks to her signature that the union was legalized in Colombia in 1986.
Those who honored her today agree that her greatest recognition was having been the first pediatric specialist in the country. “She fought hard and was a staunch defender of the national production of biologicals, so that Colombia would not be at the expense, as it is now, of their acquisition abroad. In this sense, the country has not only not advanced, much to its regret, but has also regressed in the last two decades, “said the director of the FND, Amylkar Acosta, about her work as a doctor.
For his part, the Minister of Health, Fernando Ruiz, who remembered her as “a pioneer in many fields and defender of the national production of biologicals.” In fact, among many of her achievements, the construction of the Colsubsido pediatric clinic, of which she was its first director, stands out.
We regret the death of María Teresa Forero de Saade, Pediatrician, Former Minister of Health. First pediatrician in Colombia. Pioneer in many fields and defender of the national production of biologicals. Condolences from @MinSaludCol to his family. @infopresidency
– Fernando Ruiz (@Fruizgomez) May 30, 2021
De Saade was also the representative of Colombia to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), director of Colsubsidio, president of the board of directors of the Shaio Clinic and director of the National Federation of Departments (FND), an organization to which she returned before finally retiring from the job market as a health consultant. Throughout his career he held various positions, mainly in the public sector, he even militated in politics with the Liberal Party.
They had a close friendship with Acosta and his family that the former minister acknowledged this Sunday through a public letter in which he recalled that “thanks to her and her management, my wife Nydia survived a spectacular accident in 1998. Her vocation of service, her altruism and people skills had no limits. May this be the opportunity to make this recognition public, as we did to her repeatedly in life, “he stressed.
Follow the news of El Espectador on Google NewsHe was born in Vergara (Cundinamarca), where he spent his first years of life before traveling to Bogotá with his family, made up of 17 women and one man, to seek “a better education,” as he told El Tiempo in an interview in 1996. She was the wife of surgeon Rafael Saade.
