Pamela Rendi-Wagner

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Person.png Pamela Rendi-Wagner   Facebook History Commons Instagram Twitter Website WikidataRdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
(physician, politician)
2019 Pamela Rendi-Wagner.jpg
BornJoy Pamela Wagner
7 May 1971
Vienna, Austria
NationalityAustrian
Alma materUniversity of Vienna, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Master, Royal College of Physicians
Children2 daughters
SpouseMichael Rendi
PartyAustrian Social Democratic Party
Austrian physician and "vaccine expert" catapulted to Chairwoman of the Austrian Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) in November 2018. Bilderberg 2018.

Employment.png Chair of the Austrian Social Democratic Party

In office
24 November 2018 - 3 June 2023

Employment.png Austria/Minister/Health and Women

In office
8 March 2017 - 18 December 2017

Employment.png Member of the Austrian National Council

In office
9 November 2017 - Present

Dr Pamela Rendi-Wagner is an Austrian physician and politician who attended the 2018 Bilderberg. From November 2018 until June 2023, she was the federal party leader of the Austrian Social Democratic Party,[1] having joined the party in 2012.

After taking a doctorate in medicine, she worked in the fields of epidemiology, infectiology, vaccination, tropical medicine and hygiene.[2] From 2011 to 2017 she was Director General for Public Health in the Ministry of Health, and in 2017 she was promoted to Federal Minister of Health and Women. She has been a member of the Austrian National Council (lower house) since November 9, 2017, and her party's chairwoman since October 8, 2018. In the national elections in Austria in 2019, she was the top candidate of the SPÖ.[3]

Her party, the second biggest in Parliament, voted for the mandatory Covid vaccines from 2022, enforced by fines and prison sentences:

Although compulsory vaccination was never our goal," says Rendi-Wagner, "unfortunately it has now become necessary."[4]

In February 2024, she was nominated to become Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control[5], an agency of the European Union "whose mission is to strengthen Europe's defences against infectious diseases".[6]

Early life

Joy Pamela Wagner was born in Vienna and grew up in the Favoriten district as the daughter of Wolfgang and Christine Wagner, née Tschabitscher. When her parents divorced, she stayed with her mother. She attended the GRG 12 Erlgasse in Meidling and graduated in 1989.[7] She then studied medicine at the University of Vienna and received her doctorate in 1996.[8]

From 1996 to 1997 she attended a course on Infection and Health in the Tropics at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and graduated with a master's degree (MSc). In 1997, she obtained a diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in the Royal College of Physicians.[9]

Activities as a doctor

In 1998 Wagner returned to the University of Vienna. Between 1998 and 2002 she worked in the Department of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine and from 2002-2003 in the Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Spital. From 2003 to 2007 she worked again in the Department of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine (in the meantime, the Medical University of Vienna was spun off from the University of Vienna in early 2004). As project manager, Rendi-Wagner established, among other things, a network for the comprehensive epidemiological surveillance of infectious diseases.

In 2008 she habilitated in Vienna on the subject of "prevention through vaccination". She then worked internationally as a scientist in the fields of infection epidemiology, vaccine prevention and travel medicine. Between 2008 and 2011 she was visiting professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at Tel Aviv University in Israel. Between 2012 and 2017 she worked as a visiting professor at the Center for Public Health at the Medical University of Vienna. [10] From 2011 to 2017, Rendi-Wagner headed Section III, "Public Health and Medical Affairs" in the Federal Ministry of Health, was Chair of the Federal Office for Safety in Health Care (BASG) and a member of the Federal Health Commission.

Political career

In 2012, Rendi-Wagner joined the Association of Social Democratic University Graduates, an organization affiliated with the SPÖ.[11]

Following the death of Minister for Health and Women Sabine Oberhauser in February 2017, Rendi-Wagner was appointed as her successor on 8 March, replacing interim minister Alois Stöger. She served in the government of Chancellor Christian Kern. Only shortly before her inauguration, she became a member of the SPÖ.[11][12] She became a member of the National Council in the election in October, but due to the change in government, she left the ministry on 18 December 2017. She declined to return as an official in the Ministry of Health. Thereafter, Rendi-Wagner became the SPÖ's spokeswoman for health. She joined the joint committee as well as the commitees for health, environment, economy, and foreign affairs, becoming deputy chair of the health committee.[9]

After Kern announced his pending resignation as SPÖ chairman in September 2018, the party executive board designated Rendi-Wagner as his successor. She was confirmed at a party convention on 24 November with 97.8% of votes, becoming the first woman to lead the SPÖ in the party's history.[13] She stated that she wanted to define the party as modern, progressive, and cosmopolitan, pushing it to "have the courage to provide simple and understandable answers" and stand for equal opportunity and justice. She sought to provide a sharp contrast with the ÖVP and FPÖ without opposing the government dogmatically. She said that she was "not a fan of the left-right split", and was perceived as seeking to bring the party to the centre.[14][15]

On 28 May 2019, Rendi-Wagner was unanimously confirmed by the SPÖ executive as the party's top candidate for the 2019 federal election.[16] The party won 21.2% of votes, a loss of 5.7 percentage points, its worst ever result. Nonetheless, it remained the second largest party and largest opposition party.[17] In the new National Council, Rendi-Wagner became foreign policy spokeswoman for the SPÖ.[18] She also became chairwoman of the foreign affairs committee, and joined the standing subcommittee of the joint committee.[9]

In November 2021, she refused to commit to an end to lockdowns.[19]


 

Event Participated in

EventStartEndLocation(s)Description
Bilderberg/20187 June 201810 June 2018Italy
Turin
Hotel Torino Lingotto Congress
The 66th Bilderberg Meeting, in Turin, Italy, known for months in advance after an unprecedented leak by the Serbian government.
Many thanks to our Patrons who cover ~2/3 of our hosting bill. Please join them if you can.


References

  1. https://orf.at/stories/3101915/
  2. https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000053759687/pamela-rendi-wagner-von-der-tropenmedizin-zur-ministerin
  3. https://www.bmi.gv.at/412/Nationalratswahlen/Nationalratswahl_2019/Bundeswahlvorschlag_SPOE.aspx
  4. https://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/politik/impfpflicht-so-wird-gestraft/502627497
  5. https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/news-events/new-director-ecdc-2024
  6. https://reliefweb.int/organization/ecdc-0
  7. https://kurier.at/politik/inland/die-schule-von-kurz-und-rendi-wagner-eliteschmiede-erlgasse/400138370
  8. https://www.parlament.gv.at/WWER/PAD_91034/index.shtml
  9. a b c https://www.parlament.gv.at/WWER/PAD_91034/index.shtml
  10. https://web.archive.org/web/20170429140711/http://www.bmgf.gv.at/home/Ministerium/Ministerin/Lebenslauf_Ministerin_Pamela_Rendi_Wagner
  11. a b https://www.diepresse.com/5179777/impf-expertin-und-tropenmedizinerin-fur-das-gesundheitsressort
  12. https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000053780210/gewerkschaft-und-sp-frauen-stehen-zu-rendi-wagner
  13. https://www.politico.eu/article/pamela-rendi-wagner-austrian-social-democrats-set-to-crown-first-woman-leader/
  14. https://orf.at/stories/3034221/
  15. https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/rendi-wagner-will-spoe-in-die-mitte-ruecken/
  16. https://orf.at/stories/3124859/
  17. https://www.dw.com/en/austrias-far-right-loses-ground-as-sebastian-kurz-wins-landslide/a-50633489
  18. https://www.diepresse.com/5720723/rendi-wagner-wird-aussenpolitische-sprecherin-der-spo
  19. https://orf.at/stories/3238119/