Former U.S. Surgeon General and longtime ACSH friend Dr. C. Everett Koop (known as “Chick”) is warning that the public’s “irrational fear” of AIDS has given way to a “a growing sense of complacency” that’s just as dangerous. The 95-year-old retired pediatric surgeon spoke at the National Press Club on Wednesday from a wheelchair while in Washington to attend a national summit on HIV.
“Simply put, HIV is no longer on the public’s radar screen, and the result is deadly serious,” said Koop.
Dr. Whelan has kept up with Dr. Koop, speaking to him every month or so, and was delighted that he was speaking out on AIDS. Reporting on his speech, the Washington Post noted that Koop became famous “for frank, practical and nonjudgemental talk about AIDS,” and Dr. Whelan agrees. A religious conservative, Koop never let his faith interfere with his public pronouncements on the science surrounding HIV and AIDS, Dr. Whelan says.