[구정은의 ‘수상한 GPS’]Indian “ medical organizer ” in his 40s, black Latina medical scientist … Biden “ Corona TF ” stands out

The president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden, announced a task force (TF) to face Corona 19 on the 9th (local time). The 13-member TF, including former Superintendent of Health Vivek Mercy, former Director of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) David Kessler, and Professor Masella Nunez-Smith at Yale University, will lead the fight against pandemic that the Biden government will develop at the forefront.

The number of infections in the United States exceeds 10 million and deaths are approaching 250,000. Biden said that after announcing the TF that day, the United States is facing a “dark winter” and said: “Please wear a mask.” Wearing a mask was not a political statement, he said, “a way to start the unity of the country.” He started talking about Corona 19 and masks at the first press conference after the presidential election victory was declared. At a press conference in Wilmington, Delaware that day, both Biden-elect and Vice President Kammala Harris came out wearing masks, emphasizing that they are different from President Donald Trump.

Mercy, who will lead TF, is a 43-year-old British-born Indian physician. He studied biochemistry at Harvard University and earned a degree in medicine and business administration from Yale University. He is also a doctor, but what sets him apart is his ability as a ‘medical organizer’. In 1995, when I was a freshman in college, I formed a group called Vision Worldwide, which helps people with AIDS in the United States and India, and the Swastiya Health Partnership to help women’s health in rural India. . She has an organizing power that brought together 15,000 physicians by establishing ‘Doctors for America’ in 2008 while pursuing careers at Brigham Women’s Hospital and Harvard University Hospital. He also established Trial Networks, an online clinical trial support system, and Epernicus, a research platform for young scientists.

Mercy was selected as President Barack Obama’s chairman of public health adviser at age 34 in 2011. Three years later, President Obama appointed him Surgeon General. The United States has a Public Health Organization (PHSCC) under the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The head of the Superintendent of Health is called the “medical commander in uniform.” When he was nominated, some senators from the Democratic and Republican parties and from the National Firearms Association (NRA) fiercely rebelled. It was because Mercy was the one who argued that “gun violence threatens public health.” However, a host of health care organizations such as the American Heart Association, the Internal Medicine Association, the Public Health Association, the Cancer Society, and the Diabetes Association offered their support, and the renowned New England Journal of Medicine made supportive comments.

In December 2014, Mercy passed 51-43 in the Senate vote and became the youngest superintendent of health. For the next three years, he battled public health threats like alcohol and drugs. One of the things that caused a big wave was the ‘Turn the Tide’ campaign. It has been a problem across the United States and, in the end, it was to reduce addiction to opioids, a narcotic that brought drug companies like Johnson & Johnson to court.

Unlike her predecessors, Mercy continued to publish reports, statements and letters as the Superintendent of Health, warning of the growing dangers of e-cigarettes among young people, causing repercussions. In America, where there is a lot of obesity, a ‘good walking community’ was proposed and 600,000 people participated in the ‘Step It Up’ campaign.

The selection of Mercy, who resigned in 2017 after the Trump administration took effect, means that Biden sees the Corona 19 situation as a matter of national organizational power. It is not because the United States lacks drugs, doctors and hospitals, but rather that the federal government has not responded and the medical supply chain has collapsed. Biden said he would become a “supplies commander” from day one of his inauguration, saying that the Trump White House Corona 19 TF, led by Vice President Mike Pence, failed to quarantine and “dried up America to the corner. ” During World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt said he would create a pandemic committee such as the Committee on the Production of Articles of War.

Start, a medical news outlet, evaluated Mercy’s entrustment to TF as “a sign that it would respond differently to the Trump administration, which mixed science with politics, by bringing a prominent physician to the fore.” Kessler, who will lead the TF together, served as head of the FDA from President George HW Bush in 1990 through the Democratic administration of Bill Clinton, and was recognized for his administrative skills and experience.

Mercy and Kessler took the lead in criticizing the Trump administration and said they would not involve the FDA in political battles after the coronavirus outbreak. In particular, Mercy criticized the collapse of the quarantine leadership as a keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention in August, which officially decided on the electoral candidate.

Professor Nunez-Smith is a black Latino medical scientist who has dedicated herself to health inequality. Having been directly involved in responding to the Connecticut pandemic and advising Biden Camp’s health care policy, he has warned that Corona 19 is causing more harm to people of color. Reflecting the values ​​and diversity in TF’s staff, Biden has stated that he will fix America’s medical infrastructure as it responds to the pandemic.

The Biden administration is expected to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO) and actively participate in the international community’s response to the pandemic. During the presidential elections, Biden Camp proposed that the seven major countries (G7), together with the WHO, coordinate responses to crises in vulnerable countries and regions by creating a “Global Emergency Health Committee.”