Marta Temido

Marta Alexandra Fartura Braga Temido de Almeida Simões (born 2 March 1974) is a Portuguese politician who served as Minister of Health under Prime Minister António Costa, between 15 October 2018 and 10 September 2022. She submitted her resignation from the post on 30 August 2022 and ended her functions on 10 September 2022.

Initially she was an Independent minister, invited to perform the role without affiliation to the governing parties, but in August 2021 she joined the Socialist Party (PS).

Temido was elected a Member of the European Parliament in the 2024 European election, and is expected to be sworn-in in the upcoming Tenth European Parliament.

Early life and education

Temido has a law degree and a master's degree in health economics and management from the University of Coimbra, as well as a PhD in international health from the NOVA University of Lisbon.

Career

Before taking on government duties, Temido was deputy director of the Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical at NOVA University of Lisbon, non-executive chairman of the administration of the Hospital da Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa (Portuguese Red Cross) and a member of the administration of several public hospitals. From 2016 to 2017, Temido served as the president of the board of directors of the Central Administration of the Health System (ACSS).

Temido became well-known in Portugal during the COVID-19 pandemic, appearing almost daily at press conferences. When Portugal held the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2021, Temido chaired the meetings of its Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council, in which she stressed the need for the EU to make joint purchases of vaccines.

After resigning from the position of Minister of Health in September of 2022, Temido has been serving as an MP from the district of Coimbra in the Assembly of the Republic. Being speculated as the socialist candidate for the next Lisbon Mayoral Election as well as a possible contender for the next Socialist Leadership Election, Temido was elected in July 2023 as the Chair of the Lisbon Socialist Party and was appointed, alongside the minister Ana Catarina Mendes, as one of the possible candidates of the Socialist List for the 2024 European Parliament election.