This month commemorates The Task Force’s founding (March 14, 1984), an event covered in a new book by Task Force co-founder Dr. Bill Foege, winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his leadership in eradicating smallpox.
Dr. Foege was CDC Director from 1977-1983, the first director of The Carter Center, a professor at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, and advisor to Bill and Melinda Gates when they established the Gates Foundation. The book, Change Is Possible: Reflections on the History of Global Health, draws upon his personal and professional experiences, having worked in global health since the 1960s.
“This book is both a chronicle of major influencers of global health and a personal history,” Dr. Foege wrote in the book’s preface. “I was privileged to have been in the field long enough to have witnessed many, if not most, of the transformative events that have shaped current global health activities.”
Dr. Foege spoke about the book at a January event attended by nearly 50 people, including Task Force employees, at Tall Tales Book Shop in Atlanta, GA.
Change is Possible details the history of global health, from the legacy of colonialism, to the role of the military, the “medical missionary phase,” to the role of politicians, academic programs, bilateral programs, multilaterals, non-governmental organizations, “hybrid” organizations, private sector partnerships and more. It reflects on key insights from the smallpox eradication campaign, a disease Dr. Foege played a pivotal role in eliminating, and explores how these lessons can inform and enhance modern global health efforts.
Dr. Foege refers to these nine lessons as “Becoming Better Ancestors: 9 Lessons to Change The World,” a free virtual learning series featuring interviews with key global health leaders on how the lesson of smallpox can be applied to climate change, future pandemics and other threats to health.
“When I think of becoming a good ancestor, what I see in my mind are the faces of children 300 years from now, trying to get my attention — because they’ve given me their proxy,” Dr. Foege wrote in Change is Possible. “They’re pleading, ‘Please make the best decisions you can for us.’ It’s easy for us to make a good decision for ourselves and for our family, for our loved ones. But time and space put us in a difficult position to make good decisions for a child 300 years from now.”
During the January event, Dr. Foege spoke about the 1984 founding of The Task Force to improve child survival by accelerating global childhood immunizations – an ambitious goal inspired by the success of the smallpox campaign. Last year at a 40th Anniversary Task Force celebration, Dr. Foege spoke about Change Is Possible and where The Task Force fits into global health history. Watch remarks here at 2:57.
Change is Possible is co-authored by Paul Elish, Alison T. Hoover, Madison Gabriella Lee, Deborah Chen Tseng, and Kiera Chan. You can order a copy of Change Is Possible at Johns Hopkins University Press here.
