New CDC Chief Embraces Science, Vows To Tackle AIDS Epidemic And Opioid Crisis In Emotional Speech
“I'm a little nervous. I'm an outsider,” CDC Director Robert Redfield said in an address to the agency during his second day on the job. “I didn't grow up here in CDC, but I hope you accept me as a member of the family and accept my wife, because we're here to serve side by side with you.”
The Washington Post:
In Emotional Speech, CDC’s New Leader Vows To Uphold Science
Robert Redfield Jr., the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gave a deeply personal agencywide address Thursday in which he repeatedly underscored the importance of science and data and said the CDC's most critical public health mission is to protect Americans “from that which we don't expect.” (Sun, 3/29)
Stat:
U.S. Can End AIDS Epidemic Within Seven Years, CDC Director Says
The AIDS epidemic in the United States could be ended in the next few years, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Protection predicted Wednesday, saying that health officials have all the tools they need to prevent its spread. Dr. Robert Redfield, a former AIDS researcher who has spent decades treating people infected with HIV, made the remark in an all-hands meeting for CDC staff on his second full day at the Atlanta-based agency. Redfield is the agency’s 18th director. (Branswell, 3/29)
The Associated Press:
CDC Director Pledges To Bring Opioid Epidemic 'To Its Knees'
He called the opioid-driven surge in drug overdose deaths "the public health crisis of our time," and he stressed the importance of getting treatment for addicts and enhancing the CDC's tracking of the epidemic. "We will help bring this epidemic to its knees," he said. He also talked about his decades working in AIDS research and treatment. "Ending the AIDS epidemic in America is possible," he said. "I think it can be done in the next three to seven years if we put our minds to it." (Stobbe, 3/29)
