Former French health minister Michèle Barzach dies in Paris at 83

Michèle Barzach, a former gynecologist who entered politics in the 1980s, died in Paris at 83. As health minister in Jacques Chirac's cohabitation government, she championed public condom advertising and the free distribution of syringes, measures that helped curb HIV and hepatitis C transmission. After leaving the ministry, she served as deputy mayor of Paris, held senior positions with the WHO, chaired a World Bank health advisory committee, and was a non-executive director at GlaxoSmithKline, also leading its foundation for African health.

From 2012 to 2015 she headed UNICEF France. In 2020 she was questioned by police in connection with the Gabriel Matzneff investigation concerning alleged prescription of contraceptives to minors.