Richard Carmona Quotes

By the way, what happened to our surgeon general who warned us about AIDS and smoking? That position has been completely stripped of power.

Mary Lasker was an entrepreneur; she was a socialite. She was kind of a legendary networker. She became interested in saying, 'Well, you know, if these diseases don't have political support we'll never conquer them.' And she made, really, cancer her special cause.

We have common enemies today. It's called childhood poverty. It's called cancer. It's called AIDS. It's called Parkinson's. It's called Muscular Dystrophy.

The Surgeon General's job is a bully pulpit and not much else.

As surgeon general I always seemed to be issuing a "Surgeon General's Warning" about one thing after another that threatened the health of the American people: cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, AIDS, Reye's syndrome, violence, and a host of others. In each case I had to be certain that the science behind the health warning was impeccable and able to withstand the critics who sought to dismiss the warnings. But I also needed to ensure that the science made sense on a personal level. I had to listen to the American people as well as to talk (sternly) to them.

HIV AIDS is a preventable disease and should never be a source of shame!

I think people align themselves with my way of thinking when they're talking to me. They try to create new avenues for me to pursue, so if you want to be a doctor and you have interest in human rights and philanthropy and social equality of medicine and disease, why don't you think about being surgeon general?

Keeping children alive and free of disease is not a political issue and cannot be put into a partisan box.

I think all Americans believe in human rights. And health is an often overlooked aspect of basic human rights. And it's one that's easily corrected. The reason I say that is that many of the diseases that we treat around the world, I knew when I was a child. My mother was a registered nurse. And they no longer exist in our country.

If a country denies it has AIDS, that country will inevitably become an even greater victim.

I enjoy being the messenger for God in terms of letting people know about HIV and AIDS.

I remember specifically, in the summer of 2002, the rate of women infected with HIV/AIDS was beginning to match the rate of men, and nobody was talking about it. It was as if it was on nobody else's radar. I had made up my mind to do something about it.

Many sections of our country and many groups of our citizens suffer from diseases the eradication of which are mere matters of administration and moderate expenditure. Public health service should be as fully organized and as universally incorporated into our governmental system as is public education. The returns are a thousand fold in economic benefits, and infinitely more in reduction of suffering and promotion of human happiness.

I'm for increased funding for the Centers for Disease Control.

Perhaps the CDC should quit spending money on things like jazzercise, urban gardening, and massage therapy and direct that money to where it's appropriate in protecting the health of the American people.

The surgeon general is responsible for sharing scientifically-based information with the public so that they can improve their health. But I will say personally that my goal as surgeon general is to help build a culture of prevention in America so that we are a nation that is as good at preventing illness as we are at treating it.

A lot of people have misconceptions about what the surgeon general does.

Surgeon general's job is to protect, promote and advance the health, safety and security of the nation.

As director of the CDC, one of the best parts of my job is announcing good news.

The difference is that with Ebola, it is such a devastating disease, and there is still no cure. They're still working on vaccines. The fact of the matter with polio, there is a cure; there is a vaccine.

I loved clinical practice, but in public health, you can impact more than one person at a time. The whole society is your patient.

The March of Dimes turned a disease not nearly as prevalent as childhood cancer into a national crusade. Polio was not that widespread.

My philanthropy is largely focused on healthcare, and I really want to make a difference to people's lives.

AIDS is a very, very, very vicious disease, particularly in the black community.

When I started the radio program in 1981, not many people were talking about sexuality. Not many people were talking about AIDS or HIV.