Ernst Kuipers grew up in a large family in Meppel. He studied medicine at the University of Groningen, earned his PhD for his stomach cancer research, and earned a postdoc in Nashville. He was then appointed professor of gastroenterology at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam in 2000. But now we know him as the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sports.
colorectal cancer research
Kuipers was one of the key players in the design of the Dutch population screening for colorectal cancer. And he is proud of it. His mother had to deal with the disease: “My mother initially had colon cancer. Now we know that if you detect it in time, it is very treatable. And it can actually be prevented for many people.”
career change
During the crown crisis in the Netherlands, Kuipers gained greater fame as president of the National Acute Care Network. “I’ve done things within the national organization of UMCs. Much in the background, up to COVID. The national acute care network, people had never heard of it, but it’s been around for a long time.”
In 2022 he will pass to the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport after Sigrid Kaag offers him the job. In fact, Kuipers was planning something completely different, he says in 30 MINUTES RAW that he actually had no political ambitions and was planning to leave for Canada or Australia.
