The Minister of Health of El Salvador, Elvia Violeta Menjivar Escalante, elected president today of the 54th Directing Council of the Pan American Health Organization, was born in 1952 in Arcateo, Chalatenango, El Salvador.
Named to her post last year by Salvadoran President Salvador Sánchez Cerén, Menjivar Escalante received her doctorate in medicine from University of El Salvador, following several years of service as a physician in national hospitals. Together with the Christian Federation of Salvadoran Farmworkers, she worked in health programs in impoverished urban and rural communities throughout her country.
Menjivar Escalante was a deputy of the Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN) in the National Legislature for twelve years, from 1994 to 2006. During her time in the legislature, she was a member of the Directing Council, presided over the Public Health and Environment Commission and was part of the Family, Women and Children Commission. Menjivar Escalante was a key force behind the passage of several law dealing with domestic violence and family law, and promoted a law prohibiting discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS, among other legislative achievements.
Before being elected to the legislature, Menjivar Escalante served as mayor of San Salvador, El Salvador's capitol city, from 2006 to 2009. She was the first woman to be elected to that position since the city was founded in 1525.
Source: https://www.salud.gob.sv/archivos/autoridades/pdf/DRA_MENJIVAR.pdf