Philippe Douste-Blazy (; born 1 January 1953) is a French United Nations official and former centre-right politician. Over the course of his career, he served as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Special Adviser on Innovative Financing for Development in the UN and chairman of UNITAID. He previously served as French Minister for Health (1993–1995 and 2004–2005), Minister of Culture (1995–1997) and as Foreign Minister in the cabinet of Dominique de Villepin (2005–2007). He was mayor of Lourdes 1989–2000 and mayor of Toulouse 2001–2004. Originally a member of the Centre of Social Democrats (CDS), the Christian Democrat component of the Union for French Democracy (UDF) party, he later joined the Union for a Popular Movement. A cardiologist by profession, he became professor at Toulouse Sciences University in 1988. Early years Born in Lourdes in the Hautes-Pyrénées, Douste-Blazy studied medicine in Toulouse, where he had his first job in 1976. He then worked as a cardiologist in Lourdes and Toulouse, namely in Purpan's hospital from 1986. He then joined the French Society of Cardiology. He became Professor of Medicine at Toulouse Sciences University in 1988. Since 2016, he has also been a visiting professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Political career Early beginnings A member of the Centre of Social Democrats (CDS), the Christian Democrat component of the Union for French Democracy (UDF), Douste-Blazy entered politics in March 1989, being elected mayor of Lourdes. He was also elected national director of the association of research against elevations of cholesterol. Member of the European Parliament, 1989–1993 In the 1989 European elections, Douste-Blazy was elected Member of the European Parliament in June of the same year. He was then a member of the European People's Party. During his time in parliament, Douste-Blazy served on the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection. In addition to his committee assignments, he was a member of the parliament’s delegation to the Joint Assembly of the Agreement between the African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP countries) and the European Economic Community. Minister of Health, 1993–1995 Elected deputy for Hautes-Pyrénées département in March 1993, Douste-Blazy was appointed to the cabinet of Edouard Balladur as Minister-Delegate (a junior minister) at the Ministry for Health. In May 1994, in his capacity as minister, Douste-Blazy visited Rwanda and refugee camps in neighboring Tanzania to witness the consequences of the genocidal mass slaughter of Tutsi by members