
José Ángel Portal Miranda is a Cuban doctor born in Cuba in 1968 who has served as Minister of Public Health since July 21, 2018. Portal Miranda is a First and Second Degree specialist in Comprehensive General Medicine, a Second Degree specialist in Health Organization and Administration, and holds a Master's degree in Satisfactory Longevity.
He is also a Deputy to the National Assembly of People's Power.
Before his role as Minister of Health, he served as deputy director and provincial health director in Pinar del Río (since 1996), national director of Hospital Services, and deputy minister of Medical and Social Assistance in the Ministry of Public Health. He is a member of the Central Committee of the PCC.
Portal Miranda directs one of the sectors most impacted by the country's ongoing medication shortages that the island has been facing for years. This scarcity has reached critical levels in the past year (2019-2020), affecting the distribution of medications to chronic patients and the elderly, who endure endless queues starting in the early morning without any guarantees of receiving their medicines.
On the other hand, there is widespread public discontent with the management of the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) led by Portal due to the significant deterioration of the Cuban Public Health System. The population consistently denounces the deplorable condition of hospitals, polyclinics, and health centers through their social media, as well as the increasing number of medical negligence cases in recent years due to a lack of resources and organization.
As Minister, Portal Miranda has also been responsible for managing the return of two Cuban doctors who were kidnapped on April 12, 2019, in Kenya, with no results yet.