Paul Farmer never accepted the status quo.
That’s what made him so remarkable. And it’s why his untimely death at age 62 is such an enormous loss for the world.
Inequality is status quo. Racism is status quo. The notion that the poor will live in misery and die from diseases that are eminently treatable—that’s status quo, too.
And Paul would have none of it.
From his student days onward, he insisted that all people deserve the dignity of access to high-quality medical care. Then he put his convictions into action. When others claimed it would be impossible or impractical to deliver antiretroviral medicines to the poor in rural Haiti, Paul set out to prove them wrong. He and his team at Partners in Health enlisted a network of local health care workers to deliver cutting-edge HIV treatments to the most remote and impoverished communities. They saved countless lives. And they established a model that they would replicate again and again, transforming health care in nations around the world.
I looked up to Paul immensely. He was a physician and a medical anthropologist by training, but to me, he embodied the spirit of public health.
Please read more of Dean Williams’ reflection on Paul Farmer’s life and legacy in this op/ed, published in the Boston Globe on Feb. 22.
