By Aaron Miller-
Top US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci (pictured)will step down from his post in December to “pursue the next chapter” of his career, he announced in a statement on Monday.
In an interview on Sunday evening, he said he was “not retiring in the classic sense” but would devote himself to traveling, writing and encouraging young people to enter government service.
“So long as I’m healthy, which I am, and I’m energetic, which I am, and I’m passionate, which I am, I want to do some things outside of the realm of the federal government,” Dr. Fauci said in the interview, adding that he wanted to use his experience and insight into public health and public service to “hopefully inspire the younger generation.”
Fauci, 81, has led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Niaid) since 1984 and has advised seven presidents, as far back as Ronald Reagan, on emerging infectious disease outbreaks that have plagued the nation, testifying before Congress and the World Health Organization on the HIV/Aids epidemic to Ebola , and ofcourse, the coronavirus pandemic.
The veteran scientist was known for his disputes with former President Donald Trump over aspects of the pandemic , including the use of hydroxychloroquine , mask mandates, and his recommendations on lockdowns.
However, early in the outbreak of the pandemic, Faucci misinformed Americans that there was no need to wear masks for protection against the raging and deadly coronavirus. He later conceded error, admitting to have offered that advice because masks were in short supply at the time.
He was a strong advocate for increased restrictions to aid the fight against the Covid virus, a stance that made confrontations with Trump inevitable whilst he was in office. Faucci had vowed to step down in any event Trump won the U.S 2020 elections, and later said he would stay until 2025 after Joe Biden was elected as the new U.S President. His decision to leave four years early is an indication of his plans to explore other professional endeavours.
The veteran scientist first joined the National Institutes of Health in 1968 at age 27 , and quickly rose through the ranks, eventually taking over as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 1984. Former President George W. Bush awarded Fauci the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008.
Fauci called leading the NIAID through so many extraordinary health threats the “honor of a lifetime.”
“I am very proud of our many accomplishments. I have worked with – and learned from – countless talented and dedicated people in my own laboratory, at NIAID, at NIH and beyond,” he said. ’To them I express my abiding respect and gratitude.”
Fauci said he wanted to pursue a new professional phase while he still had “energy and passion” for his field.
“I want to use what I have learned as Niaid director to continue to advance science and public health and to inspire and mentor the next generation of scientific leaders as they help prepare the world to face future infectious disease threats,” he said.
In a White House statement, Joe Biden thanked for Fauci for his decades of service. The president also praised Fauci as a “dedicated public servant, and a steady hand with wisdom and insight honed over decades at the forefront of some of our most dangerous and challenging public health crises”.
“Because of Dr Fauci’s many contributions to public health, lives here in the United States and around the world have been saved,” Biden said.
Fauci worked as one of the main architects of the President George Bush’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief under the former president’s administration. Bush’s Aids relief plan was a global public health initiative launched in 2003 aimed at expanding access to therapies to curtail the HIV/Aids epidemic.