Paul Farmer, Global Health Care Pioneer, Dies At 62

[appalachiablue]

- CBS News/MSN, 1 hr. ago. Feb. 21, 2022.

Paul Farmer, an American physician and medical anthropologist renowned for his innovative work in providing health care to poorer countries, died Monday at age 62, his nonprofit group Partners in Health said. The Boston-based organization said he "unexpectedly passed away today in his sleep while in Rwanda." Farmer's work on providing health care solutions to poorer countries brought him wide acclaim. A 2003 book profiling him, "Mountains Beyond Mountains," called him "the man who would cure the world." Tributes to Farmer's legacy poured in on social media from around the world. Samantha Power, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, tweeted that Farmer was "a giant" in his field. "Devastating news," she posted.

"Paul Farmer gave everything- everything- to others. He saw the worst, and yet did all he could to bring out the best in everyone he encountered." "It is hard to overstate the impact Dr. Paul Farmer had on the medical profession," pulmonologist and medical analyst Dr. Vin Gupta tweeted. "This is beyond devastating. Paul was a hero, a mentor and a friend," University's Dr. Ashish K. Jha tweeted. "He taught us what global health should be and inspired all of us to do better." And actor Edward Norton, a social and environmental activist, called Farmer "one of the most loving, funny, generous & inspiring people to grace humanity with his soul in our lifetimes."

Working in Haiti in 1987, Farmer co-founded Partners in Health to help devise and deliver better healthcare in poor and badly underserved countries. A co-founder and close longtime associate was Jim Yong Kim, who went on to lead the World Bank from 2012 to 2019. In 2009, Farmer succeeded Kim as chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. The same year he was named a UN deputy special envoy to Haiti, working with Bill Clinton.

Farmer held that position at the time of the island's devastating 2010 earthquake, and soon was headed to Haiti on an airplane full of physicians. Farmer, a lifelong advocate for the poor Caribbean nation, co-founded the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti. He was editor in chief of the journal Health and Human Rights, and wrote extensively on the juncture of those two fields. Farmer was also chief of the division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women's Hospital, in Boston, Massachusetts...

- More, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/paul-farmer-global-health-care-pioneer-dies-at-62/ar-AAU8wJj
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- NPR, 'Dr. Paul Farmer, global health champion, Harvard Medical School professor, anthropologist and co-founder of the nonprofit health organization Partners in Health, has died at age 62.' PIH confirmed his death in a tweet on Monday.

According to the tweet, Farmer "unexpectedly passed away today in his sleep while in Rwanda," where he had been teaching for the past few weeks at the university he co-founded. A source close to Farmer said he had been in Rwanda for the past several weeks teaching at the University of Global Health Equity, the medical school that he helped found with the country's former minister of health, Dr. Agnes Binagwaho.

In addition to starting hospitals in Rwanda and Haiti, Farmer helped bring lifesaving HIV drugs to the people of Haiti in the early 2000s. "Paul Farmer's loss is devastating, but his vision for the world will live on through Partners in Health. Paul taught all those around him the power of accompaniment, love for one another, and solidarity. Our deepest sympathies are with his wife Didi and three children," said PIH CEO Sheila Davis, in a statement...
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/02/21/1082117707/global-health-champion-dr-paul-farmer-has-died

[SheltieLover]

1. ...

[McKim]

2. We lost a Public Health Hero!

We lost a Public Health hero today!!!! I visited Rwanda with our daughter and saw what a great recovery they were making after the troubles. His medical school is a beacon of hope for Africa!
Bless him and his work!

[appalachiablue]

3. Great human & doctor. Good to hear about his work firsthand.