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| Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, at the 159th Stated Meeting of the Fellows |
“Some might say that (the United Nations) could do much more to comply with the first principle of Hippocrates: ‘First, do no harm,’” Annan told the crowd of more than 170 Fellows, Academy staff and guests. “Still, we in the United Nations family do know that human health
is crucial to our mission for development and security around the world.”
The seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations gave his remarks at the black-tie dinner event in the beautifully decorated Library Reading Room. Academy President Jeremiah A. Barondess, MD, presented the Secretary-General with an image of Alfonso the Tenth, the 13th century king of present-day Spain. The image was framed with a quote from the king that Barondess selected for Annan and read aloud: “If God in his wisdom had consulted me before embarking upon creation, I should have suggested something simpler.”
Annan replied, “It would have made my life easier, too,” drawing hearty laughter from the crowd.
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| New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden, MD, congratulates Gordon DeFriese, PhD, on being awarded the Academy Plaque for Exceptional Service to the Academy. Looking on are Gerald E. Thomson, M.D., Secretary of the Academy Board of Trustees, and his wife, Carolyn Webber Thomson. |
Annan told the audience that while medical advances have led life expectancy to literally double in the United States since the Academy’s founding in 1847, millions of people worldwide still die every year from treatable diseases. At least 300 million acute cases of malaria occur each year, causing more than 1 million deaths, with 9 out of 10 occurring in Africa. Tuberculosis kills more than 1.5 million annually. The AIDS pandemic killed nearly 3 million people last year, taking a disproportionate toll on women and youths, especially in Africa. AIDS leads to poverty by orphaning millions of children and causing a steady erosion of public services -- from police and the armed forces to education and local government, and, of course public health, Annan said.
“In this way, AIDS is not only an unprecedented obstacle to development; it also poses a threat to stability and security,” he said. “This is why, for several years now, I have made the battle against AIDS my personal priority.” Annan, whose first job in the United Nations was with the World Health Organization, reminded the audience that disease does not heed geographic boundaries. SARS infected over eight thousand people in 30 countries during three months in 2003, and avian flu has forced the slaughter of millions of animals across three continents in fear that the virus could mutate and prompt a human influenza pandemic.
“Experiences in the past few years have forced governments everywhere to accept that the health challenges facing us are global, and do not respect boundaries. No country is immune,” Annan said. “Our response must engage the highest levels of government, civil society, business and finance.”
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| Fellows and guests applaud Academy award winners. |
“The number of health workers in many of the poorest countries is falling,” Annan said. “Across the developing world, health workers face economic hardship, deteriorating health infrastructures and social unrest.” Reasons for this shortfall of workers include poor working conditions and pay, lack of adequate training, and the exodus of highly trained and skilled health professionals to richer countries, Annan said. “Today, some rich countries import up to 25 per cent of doctors and nurses from overseas, particularly from developing countries -- providing opportunities for individuals but also weakening capacity in their land of origin,” he said.
Annan called upon developed countries like the United States to increase support for U.N. initiatives aimed at fighting AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. “This country is a crucial partner and generous supporter in all those areas,” said Annan, whose second term concludes in December. “We cannot win the war for global health without the contribution of the United States. Organizations like yours have a key role to play in building the awareness and vigilance needed to sustain that contribution.”
Academy awards for distinguished accomplishments in biomedical science, medicine, public health, and service to the Academy were presented to five outstanding leaders at the Stated Meeting, a tradition since 1847 when the Academy was founded.
Two Stephen Smith Awards for Lifetime Achievement in Public Health were presented. The first went to Allan Rosenfield, MD, Dean of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health since 1986, for his international accomplishments championing issues of women's reproductive health, and maternal and child health, and fighting for health policies to protect the poor and disadvantaged. Dr. Rosenfield, who is in failing health, received a heartfelt standing ovation. “Thank you, and I am deeply honored,” he said.
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| Honoree Gordon Defriese, PhD, Academy President Jeremiah Barondess, MD, honoree William Kannel, MD, MPH, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, honoree Allan Rosenfield, MD, Academy Board Chairman Thomas Morris, MD, honoree Victor McKusick, MD, honoree Bert Vogelstein, MD. |
The Academy Medal for Distinguished Contributions in Biomedical Science was presented to Bert Vogelstein, MD, the first scientist to elucidate the molecular basis of a common human cancer, colorectal cancer. Dr. Vogelstein is an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Professor of Oncology and Pathology at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
He is described as the most highly cited scientist in the world. Yet, he was humbled to share the spotlight with another of the award winners, Victor A. McKusick, MD, who was presented with the John Stearns Award for Lifetime Achievement in Medicine. “Victor introduced me to human genetics in November of 1970” in a course he taught at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “His course led me on a lifelong facsinatin with genetics and cancer,” Vogelstein said.
McKusick is known as the Father of Medical Genetics, and is widely known for his catalog of human genes and genetic disorders, Mendelian Inheritance in Man, among other achievements. He is University Professor of Medical Genetics, and Director of the Alan and Kathryn Greenberg Center for Skeletal Dysplasis, both at Hopkins. “It’s a tremendous pleasure to receive this medal,” McKusick said, mentioning that he must share the honor with Hopkins, his home base since he gradated from medical school there 60 years ago, and his wife, Dr. Anne McKusick, married to him since 1949.
Gordon H. DeFriese, PhD, was honored with the Academy Plaque for Exceptional Service to the Academy. DeFriese is Editor-in-Chief of the North Carolina Medical Journal, and is Professor of social medicine, epidemiology, and health policy and administration, emeritus, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “Dr. DeFriese has faithfully and energetically contributed to the intellectual and programmatic agendas of The New York Academy of Medicine,” Barondess said upon introducing him. DeFriese has served on the Board of Scientific Advisors to the Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies, and also chairs the Academy’s Advisory Board on Health Disparities. “This is a fantastic organization,” he said, upon accepting the award. “I know what this honor means, and I’m very pleased to be recognized for it.” DeFriese concluded his comments by drawing attention to something that no one had publicly mentioned all night: that this Stated Meeting would be Dr. Barondess’s last as President before he retires in the fall. “I do think Jeremiah Barondess will go down in history as one of the great leaders in American medicine,” DeFriese said, to rousing applause. Founded in 1847, The New York Academy of Medicine is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit institution whose mission is to enhance the health of the public. The Academy is a leading center for urban health policy and action working to enhance the health of people living in cities worldwide through research, education, advocacy, and prevention.
Posted on 05/10/2006
Contact:
Malini Doddamani
Director of Communications
mdoddamani@nyam.org
212.822.7285
