Thompson's farewell to HHS urges continued focus on global health

Doctors applaud the secretary's work to fight obesity and to promote regulatory reform.

By David Glendinning, AMNews staff. Dec. 20, 2004.

Washington -- Enhancing U.S. "medical diplomacy" abroad and remaining vigilant against the threat of an influenza pandemic are two tasks the next Dept. of Health and Human Services secretary must tackle, said outgoing HHS chief Tommy Thompson in announcing his departure.

"We are missing out on a great opportunity to use medical diplomacy to break down the barriers around the world and to improve the quality of health of the people of the world," he said. He cited America's growing commitment to the global AIDS crisis as one way in which the nation has shown some promise in this area.

Thompson also identified a relatively new avian flu strain as a threat that has not received enough attention at the highest levels of government. "This is a really huge bomb out there that could adversely impact the health care of the world," he said.

Thompson said the department had made great strides in other areas during his four years, most notably shepherding through Congress the Medicare reform legislation that created an outpatient drug benefit. Adjustments to the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act's privacy regulations and modernization of several Medicare payment systems are two ways in which HHS made advances that expressly benefited health professionals, he said.