The Minister of Health and Social Protection is a doctor and has a master's degree in Economics from the Javeriana University. He also has a master's degree in Public Health / Occupational Health from the Harvard School of Public Health, in Boston, and a doctorate in Public Health, from the National Institute of Public Health of Mexico. In his professional career, the position he held as Deputy Minister of Public Health during the period 2013-2016 stands out.
Before coming to this portfolio as Minister, he served as scientific director of the Cancer Research and Treatment Center project. He was also a health sector consultant for the World Bank, directed the project and the start-up of the first Comprehensive Center for Cancer Care in Latin America and, in addition, was director of the Center for Development Projects (CENDEX) of the Pontifical University Javeriana.
He was regional director of Health, in Bogotá, where he implemented the district health policy in the most vulnerable area of the city and was co-founder and first President of the Colombian Association of Health Economics (Acoes).
He has directed projects as a consultant for entities such as the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Pan-American Organization on different issues in the area of health. He has also been part of the Executive Committee of the World Health Organization.
Ruiz has also been a researcher for Colciencias and a professor at the Seminar on Health Insurance and Markets of the Master's Degree in Health Economics at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. For more than two decades he has developed research in health systems and services, and in health insurance issues.
