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Regina Benjamin has an impressive background as a brilliant, committed family doctor who at times sacrificed her own financial well-being to care for some of the poorest working Americans.
Jump to full article: Los Angeles Times, 2009-07-14
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Intro: She has been a leader in both the Alabama and national medical associations, but she's also a doctor who drove long distances when sick patients could not get to her and who understands the ravages of smoking, poor diet and other unhealthy behaviors in the most intimate way, having lost members of her immediate family to easily preventable diseases.
If confirmed, Benjamin will take over a job known almost solely for the ubiquitous 1965 warning, later updated, that "The Surgeon General has determined that cigarettes may be dangerous to your health." The position, which is not responsible for such weighty policy matters as healthcare reform, nonetheless can wield tremendous influence when the person who holds it has a gift for communication and a reputation for passionate, science-based positions on public health. During the Reagan administration, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop advocated comprehensive sex education, produced an important paper on the effects of secondhand smoke and had information on AIDS mailed to every U.S. household.
Benjamin should make the unhealthy fattening of America one of her keynote public health issues.She also can advocate for better primary-care coverage and encourage the brightest students in U.S. medical schools to consider careers in family medicine. Known for her unswerving determination and frank speech, Benjamin has the potential to be one of the strongest voices in public health in decades. Her confirmation should be swift.
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