PHILIPPE DOUSTE-BLAZY

Minister Delegate for Health, Minister of State for Social Affairs, Health and City (1993 - 1995)

Minister of Health and Social Protection (2004)

Minister for Social Affairs, Health, the Elderly, the Disabled and the Family (2004 - 2005)

Minister of Foreign Affairs (2005-2007)

After completing residency at the Toulouse Hospital, Philippe Douste-Blazy became Head of Clinic in Cardiology. In 1988, Philippe Douste-Blazy became Professor at the Toulouse Faculty of Medicine in epidemiology, health economics and prevention, and became a member of the New York Academy of Sciences. In 1989, he was elected Mayor of Lourdes, then deputy for Hautes-Pyrénées in 1993, then Mayor of Toulouse and deputy for Haute-Garonne in 2001.

Philippe Douste-Blazy was appointed Minister of Culture 1995-1997, then Minister of Health and Social Protection in 2004. On November 29 2004, Philippe Douste-Blazy became Minister for Social Affairs, Health, the Elderly, the Disabled and the Family. He initiated a reform of healthcare coverage with savings of 10 billion euros and forecasted a revenue of 5 billion in three years.

In 2005, Philippe Douste-Blazy became French Minister of Foreign Affairs where he founded UNITAID, an organization hosted by the United Nations, providing the world's poorest populations with access to drugs against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Its budget is based on a one-euro contribution per plane ticket.

In 2008, he was appointed Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Special Adviser on Innovative Financing for Development and served for 9 years.

Since 2019 he is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of UNITLIFE, the United Nations fund dedicated to fighting chronic malnutrition through innovation.