Julio Frenk

Dr. Julio José Frenk Mora (b. December 20, 1953, Mexico City) is a Mexican physician and former Secretary of Health of Mexico. Dr. Frenk is currently head of the Grupo Carso Health Institute, an organization funded by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim. As of March 2007, he is a senior fellow at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he provides advice on a range of global health topics, including initiatives to improve maternal and child health and to improve monitoring and evaluation of health programs.

Biography
Dr. Frenk obtained his medical degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico UNAM in 1979. Subsequently he obtained a master of Public Health and a master of arts in Sociology from the University of Michigan where he also obtained his PhD degree in Medical Care Organization and in Sociology.

In 1998 he was designated Director of Evidence and Information for Policy at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, and member of the transition team of President Vicente Fox in the areas of health.

He is the author of 28 books and monographs and many articles in academic journals as well as in cultural magazines and newspapers. He is also the member of the Editorial Boards of ten international journals and a member of twelve scientific and professional associations, including the National Academy of Medicine of Mexico and the United States Institute of Medicine.

In 2004, Frenk was criticized by tobacco control advocates for cutting an unusual deal with tobacco companies. Philip Morris and British America Tobacco agreed to donate $400 million for health programs in Mexico over 2 1/2 years but reserved the right to cancel the donation if cigarette taxes were raised.

In September 2006 the Mexican government put Frenk's name forward as a candidate for the vacant position of Director General of the World Health Organization. The British medical journal The Lancet published an editorial suggesting Frenk was the best candidate, while The Wall Street Journal reported that the controversial tobacco deal would likely hurt his chances for election. The WHO position was awarded to Dr. Margaret Chan in November 2006.

After failing to win the WHO post, Dr. Frenk took a job running the newly created Grupo Carso Health Institute in Mexico, an organization funded by Mexico's richest man, Carlos Slim. Mr. Slim controls Philip Morris of Mexico, one of the companies that negotiated and benefited from the unusual deal struck by Dr. Frenk during his time as Mexican health minister.

The "morning after" pill


On July 2005 Frenk met the opposition of Interior Secretary Carlos Abascal (a conservative Catholic) because of the decision of the Ministry of Health of distributing the morning after pill to government health clinics.

Shortly after Norberto Rivera Carrera (archbishop of Mexico City) declared that the introduction of the pill should not be made without public debate, Abascal announced debates on the decision would be made. However, Frenk has denied the existence of any plans in discussing the topic or withdrawing the distribution of the pills. Women's rights groups have applauded the decision while anti-abortion activists and the Catholic Church have strongly decried the pill that is traditionally abortive (see the following page to understand how the birth control pill tends to remove the chance of the embryo (the fertilized egg) from attaching to the uterus after conception: link).

Awards

 * Cecilio A. Robelo Award for Scientific Research, State of Morelos, 1993.
 * Fellow, Michigan Society of Fellows, The University of Michigan, (1982-1984).
 * National researcher, Mexican Research System, Mexico City, (1984-1998).
 * International Fellow in Health, The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, (1986-1989).