Paul Farmer, a prominent American physician, and humanitarian, died on February 21, 2022, at 62, after a long battle with cancer. Dr. Sheila Davis, the CEO of his non-profit company Partners in Health, broke the news of his death:
Partners in Health will carry on Paul Farmer’s dream of making a positive difference in the world. Paul was a master at teaching others about the need of supporting one another, showing compassion for one another, and demonstrating solidarity. We send our condolences to his loved ones.
Farmer’s death was also noted by Dr. Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Advisor to the President of the United States:
“When it comes to public health, he’s one of the most recognizable and revered figures in the industry. Even though he called me mentor, he was really more of a mentor to me than I was to him.
According to Partners in Health, Paul Farmer died of an abrupt heart attack while he was sleeping. He died in Rwanda, where he taught before he was shot and killed.
All About Paul Farmer
American anthropologist Paul Farmer was also a physician, philanthropist, and author recognized for his attempts to give free health treatment to millions of disadvantaged people worldwide. He was born in North Adams, Massachusetts, on October 26, 1959, and grew up in Weeki Wachee, Florida. Before entering Duke University as a Benjamin N. Duke Scholar, he graduated from Hernando High School. As soon as he finished medical school, the doctor began volunteering at a hospital in Haiti. In 1982, Farmer obtained a summa cum laude in medical anthropology after completing his Bachelor of Arts degree.
In 1990, the anthropologist graduated from Harvard University with an MD and a Ph.D. in medical anthropology and continued to work in Haiti. During his residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 1993, Farmer earned an infectious disease fellowship, which he completed two years later. In 1987, Farmer co-founded the non-profit organization Partners in Health, intending to deliver direct health care services to those in need. The Boston-based company was founded in Cange, Haiti, and has expanded to 16 locations throughout the United States.
Paul Farmer career
The Navajo Nation, Russia’s Sierra Leone, and Liberia are other places where it has begun functioning. For over a decade, author Tracy Kidder has documented Dr. Paul Farmer’s efforts in Haiti, Peru, and Russia in Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer. In 2009, the doctor was designated Chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. When Bill Clinton was in office, he was assigned the United Nations Deputy Special Envoy to Haiti. He was named the Kolokotrones University Professor at Harvard in 2010 and has held that position ever since. For his work on community-based medicine and lessons learned from Haiti, the UN designated him a Special Adviser to the Secretary-General in 2012.
The passing of Dr Paul Farmer has shaken us deeply. It was because of Paul that we have a Program in Global Surgery and Social Change. He was our greatest advocate and friend, and we will continue to keep alive his legacy of hope, dignity, and health care access for all. pic.twitter.com/8Qts9Etnd4
— HarvardGlobalSurgery (@HarvardPGSSC) February 21, 2022
It was started in 2015 by Partners in Health to address social and structural challenges, which have resulted in disparities and wasteful expenditures in health care delivery. Dr. Farmer served on the Aristide Foundation for Democracy board as the journal’s editor-in-chief. Along with founding and serving on the Board of the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti, his other accomplishments include teaching at the university level. Both PIVOT and Kageno Worldwide have humanitarians on their boards of directors and other non-profit organizations. In addition, he served on the boards of Incentives for Global Health and GlobeMed, where he served as a global advisor. The University Advisory Board for Essential Medicines and the EqualHealth Board of Trustees included Paul Farmer. Throughout his career, he worked to implement public health measures to react to TB, HIV/AIDS, and Ebola in the developing world.
In addition to writing 12 books in his lifetime, the physician also wrote Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds: Ebola and the Ravages of History, which will be published in 2020. The documentary Bending the Arc also included Farmer and Partners in Health. As a result of his efforts to save lives, provide free health care to the world’s poorest communities, and enhance global health care, he earned the Peace Abbey Foundation Courage of Conscience Award in 2007. As a result, Paul Farmer was given the $1 million Berggruen Prize in 2020 for “reshaping” the concept of health care as “a human right.” His wife, Didi Bertrand Farmer, and their three children are all that remains of him.
