This month we celebrate African-American History Month and honor the remarkable contributions that African-Americans have made to the nation’s progress. One of those leaders being recognized by Health and Human Services is former CDC Director David Satcher, MD, PhD. (We’ll highlight Satcher later, but first a message from HHS).
Message from HHS Secretary Sebelius regarding African American History Month
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says, “At HHS, we honor the opportunities in public health, medicine, and scientific research made possible by leading African-Americans across the country.
“During this year, we commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, and pay tribute to the pioneers who came before us and commit to build on their legacies. It seems only fitting that the theme for African-American History Month is ‘At the Crossroads of Freedom and Equality: the Emancipation Proclamation and the March on Washington.’
Message from HHS Secretary Sebelius regarding African American History Month
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says, “At HHS, we honor the opportunities in public health, medicine, and scientific research made possible by leading African-Americans across the country.
“During this year, we commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, and pay tribute to the pioneers who came before us and commit to build on their legacies. It seems only fitting that the theme for African-American History Month is ‘At the Crossroads of Freedom and Equality: the Emancipation Proclamation and the March on Washington.’
“African-Americans are part of what makes this country great and our nation’s health and healthcare system has been strengthened and transformed by their steadfast commitment to ensuring a system of health equity. During this month, we recall Dr. Charles Drew, whose work led to the life-saving ability to store blood plasma; Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, who performed the first successful heart surgery in 1893; and Mary Eliza Mahoney, the first African-American professionally trained nurse. In more recent times, we recognize such leaders in public health and health equity as Dr. David Satcher, who served as Surgeon General of the United States, Assistant Secretary for Health and CDC director.
“We honor these medical trailblazers by carrying on their work to advance health care and expand access to care. Without access to quality health care and the security of health insurance for all Americans, we cannot truly have freedom and equal opportunity for all. This administration is committed to building a nation where every American has a fair shot to achieve his or her dreams. For too long, African-Americans have faced challenges getting the health care they need, and consequently, their opportunities have been limited.
“At every level, we are working hard at HHS to make a healthier America by eliminating disparities, increasing diversity of the nation’s healthcare workforce, and improving the health of all communities. Join us this month as we recognize the achievements of African-Americans and move toward the day when every American has the chance to live a healthy life and contribute to their community and country.”
Charles Drew was an African-American physician, surgeon and medical researcher. He researched in the field of blood transfusions, developing improved techniques for blood storage, and applied his expert knowledge to developing large-scale blood banks early in World War II. Photo from Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Daniel Hale Williams was an American surgeon. He was the first African-American cardiologist, and performed one of the first successful open-heart surgeries in the United States.
Mary Eliza Mahoney was the first African-American to study and work as a professionally trained nurse in the United States, graduating in 1879.
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David Satcher, MD, PhD, Was CDC Director from 1993 to 1998
Satcher served simultaneously in the positions of Surgeon General and Assistant Secretary for Health from February 1998 through January 2001 at the US Department of Health and Human Services. As such, he is the first Surgeon General to be appointed as a four-star admiral in the USPHS, to reflect his dual offices.
CDC Connects sat down with Satcher for a conversation about his years as CDC director.
Here’s an excerpt from the interview.
What got you started on the path to public health in the first place?
'Well, it’s a long story for me and it probably goes back to that small farm in Anniston, Alabama where I almost died of whooping cough and went into medicine really with a passion especially about the health of children and about promoting health and preventing disease in people, that was really nurtured during my time in medical school and graduate school at Case Western Reserve University and then later on at UCLA during the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program in the School of Public Health."
What do you think was the most rewarding thing about being the CDC director?
"I think the most rewarding things about being the CDC director was to be a member of a really great team of people—people who are really committed to their work, and people who work together in a very productive way. I had that opportunity for almost five years and had some great people. Claire Broome of course, was the first woman to be deputy director of CDC and then later on, Helene Gayle was the first woman to be director of a center. So we sort of came together as a great team and that’s what I remember most. I still maintain those relationships."
CDC’s new tagline is CDC 24/7: Saving Lives Protecting People. How do you think CDC accomplishes this?
"Well, I think the CDC accomplishes this mission of protecting people and saving lives in several ways—through partnerships, is a really critical one. I remember that when we made a lot of progress in child immunization, it was in great part because of the kind of partnerships we were able to develop: the National Council of Black Churches, the WIC Program, the National Council of Churches, mayors in places like Detroit where the immunization level was 29 percent when we started, compared to Vermont where it was 70 percent—but it was the partnership with the really outstanding mayor of Detroit that helped us to be successful there. So the CDC builds partnerships and relies upon partnership with the really outstanding mayor of Detroit that helped us to be successful there. So the CDC builds partnerships and relies upon partnerships to really get a lot of its work done. But I think just as important, the internal strengths of the CDC, the training programs, the Epidemic Intelligence Service, the Public Health Advisory Program, and the program that we started, Public Health Prevention Services, that’s now, I think, going on quite strongly. So all of those programs where we build people from within and without of the CDC are very important to the success of the CDC mission."
Is there anything else that you would like to add?
"Well, you know, the world has changed and the CDC has been a very important part of that, no question about it. The world is, as Dr. King would say, 'A neighborhood.' We have been able to take our technology to really tie the world together as a neighborhood. We can travel, we can be in one place anywhere in the world today and 24 hours later somewhere else. And the CDC has always said that that means that we are all at risk so we can’t just say, 'Well, this infectious disease is so far away that we don’t have to worry about it. We are all in one global community. But Dr. King’s challenge, of course is, “How can we now make this neighborhood a brotherhood and a sisterhood?' And I think, you know, as scientists, we don’t think of our role as being to help people to get along but the fact of the matter is, if people don’t get along, you can’t get vaccines to children. And the only reason we haven’t eradicated polio to date is because we can’t get pass wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan and other places. So we have to understand, as the World Health Organization pointed out, on a report of the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, these things are all tied together. We cannot have a healthy world, you know, unless you have a world where people work together and are able to get along and support each other. So we have to keep working toward that."
This Inside Story by Kathy Nellis Chastney.
Watch for the entire interview with Satcher coming soon in CDC Connects.
For a related story, see CDC History: Satcher Shares Memories, a story from 2008 and part of CDC Connects History Series.
http://www.cdc.gov/minorityhealth/observances/BAA.html
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OSR Community & Diversity Delegates
Utibe Essien, National Delegate for Community and Diversity
Kathy Nguyen, Southern Delegate
Calvin Kagan, Northeast Delegate
Jerffrey Zubinski, Central Delegate
Eric Sid, Western Delegate
Alinea Noronha, Liaison to Committee of Diversity Affairs
“We honor these medical trailblazers by carrying on their work to advance health care and expand access to care. Without access to quality health care and the security of health insurance for all Americans, we cannot truly have freedom and equal opportunity for all. This administration is committed to building a nation where every American has a fair shot to achieve his or her dreams. For too long, African-Americans have faced challenges getting the health care they need, and consequently, their opportunities have been limited.
“At every level, we are working hard at HHS to make a healthier America by eliminating disparities, increasing diversity of the nation’s healthcare workforce, and improving the health of all communities. Join us this month as we recognize the achievements of African-Americans and move toward the day when every American has the chance to live a healthy life and contribute to their community and country.”
Charles Drew was an African-American physician, surgeon and medical researcher. He researched in the field of blood transfusions, developing improved techniques for blood storage, and applied his expert knowledge to developing large-scale blood banks early in World War II. Photo from Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Daniel Hale Williams was an American surgeon. He was the first African-American cardiologist, and performed one of the first successful open-heart surgeries in the United States.
Mary Eliza Mahoney was the first African-American to study and work as a professionally trained nurse in the United States, graduating in 1879.
----------
David Satcher, MD, PhD, Was CDC Director from 1993 to 1998
Satcher served simultaneously in the positions of Surgeon General and Assistant Secretary for Health from February 1998 through January 2001 at the US Department of Health and Human Services. As such, he is the first Surgeon General to be appointed as a four-star admiral in the USPHS, to reflect his dual offices.
CDC Connects sat down with Satcher for a conversation about his years as CDC director.
Here’s an excerpt from the interview.
What got you started on the path to public health in the first place?
'Well, it’s a long story for me and it probably goes back to that small farm in Anniston, Alabama where I almost died of whooping cough and went into medicine really with a passion especially about the health of children and about promoting health and preventing disease in people, that was really nurtured during my time in medical school and graduate school at Case Western Reserve University and then later on at UCLA during the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program in the School of Public Health."
What do you think was the most rewarding thing about being the CDC director?
"I think the most rewarding things about being the CDC director was to be a member of a really great team of people—people who are really committed to their work, and people who work together in a very productive way. I had that opportunity for almost five years and had some great people. Claire Broome of course, was the first woman to be deputy director of CDC and then later on, Helene Gayle was the first woman to be director of a center. So we sort of came together as a great team and that’s what I remember most. I still maintain those relationships."
CDC’s new tagline is CDC 24/7: Saving Lives Protecting People. How do you think CDC accomplishes this?
"Well, I think the CDC accomplishes this mission of protecting people and saving lives in several ways—through partnerships, is a really critical one. I remember that when we made a lot of progress in child immunization, it was in great part because of the kind of partnerships we were able to develop: the National Council of Black Churches, the WIC Program, the National Council of Churches, mayors in places like Detroit where the immunization level was 29 percent when we started, compared to Vermont where it was 70 percent—but it was the partnership with the really outstanding mayor of Detroit that helped us to be successful there. So the CDC builds partnerships and relies upon partnership with the really outstanding mayor of Detroit that helped us to be successful there. So the CDC builds partnerships and relies upon partnerships to really get a lot of its work done. But I think just as important, the internal strengths of the CDC, the training programs, the Epidemic Intelligence Service, the Public Health Advisory Program, and the program that we started, Public Health Prevention Services, that’s now, I think, going on quite strongly. So all of those programs where we build people from within and without of the CDC are very important to the success of the CDC mission."
Is there anything else that you would like to add?
"Well, you know, the world has changed and the CDC has been a very important part of that, no question about it. The world is, as Dr. King would say, 'A neighborhood.' We have been able to take our technology to really tie the world together as a neighborhood. We can travel, we can be in one place anywhere in the world today and 24 hours later somewhere else. And the CDC has always said that that means that we are all at risk so we can’t just say, 'Well, this infectious disease is so far away that we don’t have to worry about it. We are all in one global community. But Dr. King’s challenge, of course is, “How can we now make this neighborhood a brotherhood and a sisterhood?' And I think, you know, as scientists, we don’t think of our role as being to help people to get along but the fact of the matter is, if people don’t get along, you can’t get vaccines to children. And the only reason we haven’t eradicated polio to date is because we can’t get pass wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan and other places. So we have to understand, as the World Health Organization pointed out, on a report of the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, these things are all tied together. We cannot have a healthy world, you know, unless you have a world where people work together and are able to get along and support each other. So we have to keep working toward that."
This Inside Story by Kathy Nellis Chastney.
Watch for the entire interview with Satcher coming soon in CDC Connects.
For a related story, see CDC History: Satcher Shares Memories, a story from 2008 and part of CDC Connects History Series.
http://www.cdc.gov/minorityhealth/observances/BAA.html
----------
OSR Community & Diversity Delegates
Utibe Essien, National Delegate for Community and Diversity
Kathy Nguyen, Southern Delegate
Calvin Kagan, Northeast Delegate
Jerffrey Zubinski, Central Delegate
Eric Sid, Western Delegate
Alinea Noronha, Liaison to Committee of Diversity Affairs