danielle
01-11-2003, 08:06 PM
WASHINGTON - U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona, also a certified correctional physician, recently gave his support to a Call to Action for Correctional Health being developed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
In a memo to CDC director Julie Gerberding, Vice Admiral Carmona commended the agency for its previous efforts to prevent HIV, STD, and TB in prisons and jails. "I realize that it is now time for the Office of the Surgeon General to play a more active role in initiating the development of this vital public health document and strategy," Dr. Carmona said in his letter.
The new surgeon general took office in August. A combat-decorated Vietnam war veteran, he is both a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a former chairman of the Arizona Southern Regional Emergency Medical System. Dr. Carmona is also a certified correctional health care physician, serving as deputy sheriff and surgeon for the Pima County Sheriff's Office in Arizona since 1986.
In 1999, he happened to be driving by an accident scene in Tucson while in plain clothes and saw an enraged driver attacking a woman. The driver, who was later found to have committed a murder that day, shot at Dr. Carmona, who returned fire and killed the driver.
The Bush administration chose Dr. Carmona because of his work on bio-terrorism readiness in Pima County, dating back to the mid-1990s. The surgeon general recently opened a three-day conference on bio-terrorism in Tucson, which included a large-scale drill to test how quickly vaccines could be delivered from a national pharmaceutical stockpile.
In a memo to CDC director Julie Gerberding, Vice Admiral Carmona commended the agency for its previous efforts to prevent HIV, STD, and TB in prisons and jails. "I realize that it is now time for the Office of the Surgeon General to play a more active role in initiating the development of this vital public health document and strategy," Dr. Carmona said in his letter.
The new surgeon general took office in August. A combat-decorated Vietnam war veteran, he is both a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a former chairman of the Arizona Southern Regional Emergency Medical System. Dr. Carmona is also a certified correctional health care physician, serving as deputy sheriff and surgeon for the Pima County Sheriff's Office in Arizona since 1986.
In 1999, he happened to be driving by an accident scene in Tucson while in plain clothes and saw an enraged driver attacking a woman. The driver, who was later found to have committed a murder that day, shot at Dr. Carmona, who returned fire and killed the driver.
The Bush administration chose Dr. Carmona because of his work on bio-terrorism readiness in Pima County, dating back to the mid-1990s. The surgeon general recently opened a three-day conference on bio-terrorism in Tucson, which included a large-scale drill to test how quickly vaccines could be delivered from a national pharmaceutical stockpile.