Dear Fellow Officers,
Happy New Year! As we start a new year and celebrate the 126th anniversary of the Commissioned Corps’ creation on January 4, 2015, I am honored and humbled to begin my tenure as Surgeon General and to join your ranks to protect, promote, and advance the health and safety of our nation and our world.
As with so many of you, my drive to serve came from my family and life experiences. My grandfather was a farmer in a small village in India who instilled in his children a commitment to make other people’s lives better. My father took those lessons to heart, and he and my mother eventually made their way to the United States where they set up a primary care medical practice in Miami. It was here that I found my inspiration to improve health and reduce suffering. Over the past twenty years of working in public health, research, technology innovation, and direct patient care, I have been blessed to find like-minded professionals and friends who believe that improving health of others is worth taking risks and making sacrifices. That is why I am eager and excited to work with the men and women of the USPHS Commissioned Corps and the Office of the Surgeon General to address the nation’s greatest public health challenges.
Since its establishment 126 years ago, the Commissioned Corps has continuously stepped up to the frontlines in emergencies and crises – from epidemics of yellow fever, cholera, and smallpox to more recent events such as 9/11 and the 2010 Haitian earthquake. Our officers serve our nation in assignments that span the full spectrum of public health and health care. Every day, you protect, promote, and advance the health and safety of our nation and our world. I am honored to join you in serving that mission.
As we commence a new year, I want to honor the work of our officers and the staff in the Office of the Surgeon General over the past year. In countless critical missions, Commissioned Corps officers have demonstrated public health leadership, serving the underserved and vulnerable. In 2014 Corps officers responded to public health crises both at home and abroad. Over the summer, officers deployed in response to the large influx of undocumented children crossing our southern border ensuring that these children were medically evaluated and received necessary care. And currently, in West Africa, where the largest Ebola outbreak in history continues to claim lives, our Corps officers are staffing the only Ebola treatment center dedicated to providing direct care to health care workers from around the world who are either infected or at high-risk of being infected with the virus. The courageous men and women who volunteered for duty in Liberia helped make many more Ebola fighters safer, a point that has been underscored by President Barack Obama. In a White House event honoring Ebola Fighters on October 29, he said: “We need to call them what they are, which is American heroes.”
I am also proud to say that not only have you dedicated yourself to these essential missions and your posts, but you have also volunteered time and effort to making the pride and spirit of the Corps stronger though the PHS Music Ensemble and Honor Cadre, your leadership in your professional categories, and the establishment in 2014 of the PHS Athletics.
During 2014, the Office of the Surgeon General continued its track record of bringing important health information to the public with two highly influential reports. Released in January, The Health Consequences of Smoking – 50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General highlighted advancement in tobacco control and prevention, presented new data on the health consequences of its use, and detailed initiatives that can end the tobacco epidemic in the U.S. In July, with rates of skin cancer increasing at a cost of more than $8.1 billion in the US, the Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent Skin Cancer launched a collaborative, multi-sector effort to reverse the rising tide.
For leading these efforts, I want to commend RADM Boris Lushniak, MD, MPH. As the Acting Surgeon General for the past 18 months, he has served as a powerful voice for our nation’s health. RADM Lushniak facilitated numerous public health initiatives for our service, our department and the nation during this period of transition. And for that, he has not only my deepest admiration and respect but also the thanks of a grateful nation.
Finally, I want to applaud the service of all our Commissioned Corps officers from across the country and around the world. Your extraordinary commitment to compassionate service and actions has, is, and will continue to improve the health and well-being of our world. I am proud to serve alongside such a remarkable group of leaders, and I look forward to elevating your great work during the next four years. Together, we will tackle the critical public health issues that come our way. But we will not let the urgent drown out the important. As we enter the second quarter of the second century of our history, let us rededicate ourselves to the notion that wellness is not simply the absence of disease. It is the presence of good health and good health practices.
On behalf of everyone in the Office of the Surgeon General, I wish you a year of personal achievement, commitment to service and our collective success in protecting, promoting and advancing the health and safety of our nation.
Sincerely,
VADM Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA
Surgeon General