Philippe Douste-Blazy

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Philippe Douste-Blazy
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
2 June 2005 – 15 May 2007
Prime MinisterDominique de Villepin
Preceded byMichel Barnier
Succeeded byBernard Kouchner
Minister of Health
In office
31 March 2004 – 2 June 2005
Prime MinisterJean-Pierre Raffarin
Preceded byJean-François Mattéi
Succeeded byXavier Bertrand
Minister of Culture
In office
18 May 1995 – 2 June 1997
Prime MinisterAlain Juppé
Preceded byJacques Toubon
Succeeded byCatherine Trautmann
Member of the National Assembly
for Haute-Garonne's 1st constituency
In office
2 April 2001 – 30 July 2004
Preceded byDominique Baudis
Succeeded byBernadette Païx
Mayor of Toulouse
In office
23 March 2001 – 29 April 2004
Preceded byDominique Baudis
Succeeded byJean-Luc Moudenc
Personal details
Born (1953-01-01) 1 January 1953 (age 71)
Paul Sabatier University

Philippe Douste-Blazy (French pronunciation:

UNITAID
.

He previously served as French

Foreign Minister in the cabinet of Dominique de Villepin (2005–2007). He was mayor of Lourdes 1989–2000 and mayor of Toulouse
2001–2004.

Originally a member of the

Christian Democrat component of the Union for French Democracy (UDF) party, he later joined the Union for a Popular Movement
.

A

Toulouse Sciences University
in 1988.

Early years

Born in

Toulouse Sciences University in 1988. Since 2016, he has also been a visiting professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
.

Political career

Early beginnings

A member of the

Christian Democrat component of the Union for French Democracy (UDF), Douste-Blazy entered politics in March 1989, being elected mayor of Lourdes. He was also elected national director of the association of research against elevations of cholesterol
.

Member of the European Parliament, 1989–1993

In the 1989 European elections, Douste-Blazy was elected Member of the European Parliament in June of the same year. He was then a member of the European People's Party.

During his time in parliament, Douste-Blazy served on the

African, Caribbean and Pacific States
(ACP countries) and the European Economic Community.

Minister of Health, 1993–1995

Elected deputy for

Edouard Balladur
as Minister-Delegate (a junior minister) at the Ministry for Health.

In May 1994, in his capacity as minister, Douste-Blazy visited Rwanda and refugee camps in neighboring Tanzania to witness the consequences of the genocidal mass slaughter of Tutsi by members of Rwanda’s Hutu majority government.[1] During his time in office, France approved a bill which prohibited postmenopausal pregnancy, which Douste-Blazy said was "...immoral as well as dangerous to the health of mother and child."

Douste-Blazy stayed at the ministry until the 1995 presidential election. In March 1994, he was elected at Hautes-Pyrénées's General Council. He became general secretary of the CDS in December and Government's spokesman one month later.

Minister of Culture, 1995–1997

In May 1995, after the election of

Minister of Culture. In June, he was also re-elected Mayor of Lourdes then, five months later, elected general secretary of Democratic Force
, the party which replaced the CDS .

In June 1997, the overwhelming defeat of the Presidential Majority during

French National Assembly
. During the election campaign he was badly hurt when a mentally unstable man stabbed him in the back as he was campaigning in Lourdes. It turned out that the Minister's assailant was an Albanian refugee who had already tried to attack Mr Douste-Blazy in 1992.

At the head of the centrist parliamentary group, he was often opposed to the UDF party leader François Bayrou. Indeed, while the latter advocated the emancipation of the UDF towards its Gaullist allies, Douste-Blazy proposed the union of the right-wing parties behind President Chirac.

Mayor of Toulouse, 2001–2004

Seeking one of the country's most important municipal seats,[2] Douste-Blazy narrowly won the election for Mayor of Toulouse in 2001, which saw the left making its best showing in decades. Once in office, he had to deal with a reinvigorated political opposition, as well as with the dramatic explosion of the AZF plant in late 2001.

Douste-Blazy supported Jacques Chirac in the two rounds of the 2002 presidential election, in spite of the candidacy of François Bayrou. Consequently, he participated to the unification of some right-wing groups in the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and appeared as a possible prime minister. However, once re-elected, President Chirac choose Jean-Pierre Raffarin and Philippe Douste-Blazy refused to resign from its mayoralty to be minister. The same year, he changed of constituency and was elected deputy for Haute-Garonne département.

Minister of Health, 2004–2005

After the electoral crash of the

2003 European heat wave
. He was the instigator of a new reform of medical insurances.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, 2005–2007

In a government reshuffle following the rejection of the

Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin
.

In his capacity as minister, Douste-Blazy summoned Iran's ambassador to France in October 2005, demanding an explanation for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 's public call for Israel to be "wiped off the map."[4] He announced France’s support for the Israeli separation barrier on 25 October 2006.[5] In November 2006, he summoned Israel's ambassador to Paris, Daniel Shek to express "serious concern" about violations of a ceasefire that ended the 33-day war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.[6]

During his time in office, France played a central role in international attempts to end the bloodshed in the

Senate and would make Armenian genocide denial a crime.[9]

Douste-Blazy left the position with the departure of Jacques Chirac from the Presidency in May 2007. He did not run for a new parliamentary term in the 2007 elections.

On 6 November 2007, Douste-Blazy was among the guests invited to the

state dinner hosted by President George W. Bush in honor of President Nicolas Sarkozy at the White House.[10]

United Nations

While serving as foreign minister of France, Douste-Blazy became chairman of the Executive Board of

UNITAID, the International Drug Purchase Facility hosted by the World Health Organization
which France co-founded in 2006.

On 19 February 2008, Douste-Blazy was appointed by

Under-Secretary-General. From 2008 until 2009, he was a member of the High Level Taskforce on Innovative International Financing for Health Systems, co-chaired by Gordon Brown and Robert Zoellick.[11] He is also the chairman of the board of the Millennium Foundation
for Innovate Finance for Health.

His main responsibilities as the Special Adviser included promoting UNITAID and other sources of innovative financing for the achievement of the

United Nations Development Group and the Millennium Communication Campaign.[12]

Douste-Blazy was also in charge of organizing the first World Conference of Non-Governmental Donors, with a special focus on the financing for development provided by citizens, local and regional authorities, foundations, non-governmental organizations, economic and social representatives, faith groups and the private sector. It is hoped that these innovative sources of funding could compensate the insufficient official development assistance in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

Ahead of the 2012 presidential elections, Douste-Blazy announced in January 2012 that he no longer supported Nicolas Sarkozy and instead was lending his support to centrist candidate François Bayrou.[13]

Political functions

Governmental functions

Minister of Health and government's spokesman : 1993–1995.

Minister of Culture and government's spokesman : 1995–1997.

Minister of Solidarity, Health and Family : 2004–2005.

Minister of Foreign Affairs : 2005–2007.

Electoral mandates

European Parliament

Member of European Parliament : 1989–1993 (Became minister in 1993 and elected in parliamentary elections in March 1993).

National Assembly of France

President of the group of Union for French Democracy : 1998–2002.

Member of the

National Assembly of France for Hautes-Pyrénées
 : Elected in March 1993 but he became minister / 1997–2001 (Resignation). Elected in 1993, reelected in 1997.

Member of the

National Assembly of France for Haute-Garonne
 : 2001–2004 (Became minister in 2004). Elected in 2001, reelected in 2002.

General Council

General councillor of Hautes-Pyrénées : 1994–2001.

Municipal Council

Mayor of Toulouse : 2001–2004.

Deputy-mayor of Toulouse : 2004–2008.

Municipal councillor of Toulouse : 2001–2008.

Mayor of Lourdes : 1989–2000 (Resignation). Reelected in 1995.

Municipal councillor of Lourdes : 1989–2001. Reelected in 1995.

Urban community Council

President of the

Urban community of Greater Toulouse
 : 2001–2008.

Member of the

Urban community of Greater Toulouse
 : 2001–2008.

Political functions

General secretary of the Union for a Popular Movement : 2002–2004.

Other activities

  • GBCHealth, Member of the Board of Directors[14]
  • Innovative Finance Foundation (IFF), Member of the Advisory Board[15]
  • International Consortium on Anti-Virals (ICAV), Member of the Board of Directors[16]

Honours and recognition

References

  1. New York Times
    .
  2. ^ Peggy Hollinger (4 June 2005), Douste-Blazy: savvy French politician with ruthless streak[permanent dead link] Financial Times.
  3. European Voice
    .
  4. ^ Salhani, Claude (27 October 2005). "Politics & Policies: Iran a Clear Danger". United Press International. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  5. ^ French FM changes his opinion on Israeli separation barrier Archived 9 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine EJP
  6. Washington Post
    .
  7. ^ Adam Jones (7 August 2006), Diplomacy over Lebanon boosts political fortunes of French leaders[permanent dead link] Financial Times.
  8. French National Assembly, 18 May 2006, first sitting
  9. French National Assembly
  10. ^ Guest List for the Social Dinner in Honor of His Excellency Nicolas Sarkozy President of the French Republic Office of the First Lady of the United States, press release of 6 November 2007.
  11. WHO
    , press release of May 29, 2009.
  12. ^ Global Health Innovators Huffington Post
  13. ^ Leigh Thomas (8 January 2012), Sarkozy gains ground on Socialist rival: poll Reuters.
  14. ^ Board of Directors GBCHealth, New York.
  15. ^ Members of the Advisory Board Innovative Finance Foundation (IFF), Geneva.
  16. ^ Board of Directors Archived 26 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine International Consortium on Anti-Virals (ICAV), Toronto.
  17. ^ "Resolución N° 939/997". www.impo.com.uy. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  18. ^ "Honorary Knighthoods Awarded 1997-2006".
  19. ^ President Clinton to Honor Recipients of the Fifth Annual Clinton Global Citizen Awards Clinton Foundation, press release of 22 September 2011.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Philippe Douste-Blazy.
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Culture
1995–1997 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Health
2004–2005 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Minister of Foreign Affairs

2005–2007 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Philippe_Douste-Blazy&oldid=1218494616"