I will never forget the time when C. Everett Koop, the then Surgeon General, spoke to a business group I worked for
He wore his official uniform, which was like something out of a comic operetta
He was known for doing SOMETHING: He was determined to clamp down on cigarette smoking in this country, and he meant business.
"The number of people killed by cigarettes is like a Jumbo Jet crashing every day," he told his audience, which except for one or two diehards had long given up smoking and were heavily into running, swimming, aerobics and healthy food.
On the question of AIDS, though, he was curiously dismissive-- he actually said something like, " oh, not that many people really die from it when you compare it to automobile accidents etc."
He also reminded everyone he had sent a letter "to every household in the U.S." warning people about AIDS.
THAT was an anti-AIDS campaign? He was not particularly concerned about the funding problems of the CDC regarding anything but smoking, either.
SMOKING was it for Koop ( well, maybe that's enough, you might say, the old austere Presbyterian Elder in Koop sure knew how to be disapproving of other people's "vices")
Anyway, here is Business Insider's look at the new ( and mostly unknown Surgeon General, who isn't known for anything yet).
TO SEE VIDEO:
http://www.businessinsider.com/what-exactly-does-the-surgeon-general-do-vivek-murthy-2015-6
What exactly does the surgeon general do?
Dr. Vivek Murthy is the newest surgeon general and had to wait over a year for Congressional confirmation. He is the youngest person to fill the role in American history. We asked him what the US surgeon general actually does.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave a comment-- or suggestions, particularly of topics and places you'd like to see covered