Vivek Hallegere Murthy is an American physician. His parents were originally from Karnataka, India; later, they relocated to Miami, Florida, when he was three years old. United States President Barrack Obama has Nominated him as Surgeon General last week.Obama had announced his intention to nominate Boston-based Vivek Hallegere Murthy last week.Obama’s formal notification has been sent to the White House, nominating Vivek Hallegere Murthy as surgeon general.
“Vivek Hallegere Murthy, of Massachusetts, to be Medical Director in the Regular Corps of the Public Health Service, subject to qualifications therefore as provided by law and regulations, and to be Surgeon General of the Public Health Service for a term of four years, vice, Regina M. Benjamin, resigned,” said the White House communication
If confirmed, Dr. Vivek Hallegere Murthy will be the first as well as the youngest Indian-American to be in this post as surgeon general of the US. Many people expressed their views upon Obama’s nomination.
Congressman Joe Crowley, Vice Chairperson of the Democratic Caucus and Co-Chairperson of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, expressed his view upon Obama’s nomination as “a historic moment” for Indian-Americans across the country.
“Indian-Americans have made many important contributions to American society, including in the medical field, and it is great to see another well-qualified leader rise in government,” said Mr. Crowley
Dr. Donald Berwick, former chief of Medicare and current gubernatorial candidate in Massachusetts, said, “By nominating Vivek Murthy, President Obama has chosen one of the finest doctors in our nation to be our next Surgeon General… As Surgeon General, I am confident that Dr. Murthy will use his exceptional leadership skills to raise awareness of pressing public health issues, including childhood obesity, and continue fighting to ensure that all Americans have access to quality, affordable healthcare.”
Dr. Neel Shah, founder of the non-profit Costs for Care, said, “In addition to being a brilliant physician, Vivek is a thoughtful and compelling leader who motivated thousands of physicians across the country (including myself) to seize the opportunity for healthcare reform when the President was elected. On a personal level, he is a generous and inspiring friend who listens carefully before giving sage advice and I’ve watched him apply these abilities as an effective grass roots organizer—that’s the thing about Vivek; everyone who encounters him considers him a good friend.”
It is to be noted that Murthy is the founder and chairman of TrialNetworks, a cloud-based platform for pharmaceutical and biotechnology trials that improves efficiencies in clinical drug trials, bringing new drugs to market faster and more safely. And also, he founded the company as Epernicus in 2008 to originally be a collaborative networking web platform for scientists to boost research productivity. he has also been a leader in HIV/AIDS prevention and education, co-founding and serving as president and chairman of a non-profit organization, Visions Worldwide, focused on that mission in the U.S and in India Since 1995.The surgeon general serves a four-year term and is the administration’s top official on public health issues.
Source: Hindu
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