Dr. Regina Benjamin, the 18th US Surgeon General, is to be sworn in today, Monday, January 10th.
Speaking this morning on Good Morning America, Benjamin said that her plan, once in office is to speak clearly to the American public on health issues, which she says are so “confusing” because of the wealth of information in the public domain. She perceives the Surgeon General’s office as providing “sound medical advice” to Americans.
Following Benjamin’s nomination by President Obama in July 2009, some critics, including from within the medical community, have said that she is not suited to be in the position of Surgeon General because she is overweight.
Asked whether that criticism was fair, Benjamin replied that she joins 67 percent of Americans who struggle with their weight and that there should be an open dialogue on excess weight and obesity.
According to Benjamin, her top priority once she assumes the office would be “wellness” and “prevention”, and within that context, she expects to tackle issues such as obesity and smoking.
Benjamin, among her other accomplishments, has been known for single-handedly establishing the Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic in Alabama which she ran for close to 20 years.
Confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate last October 2009, Benjamin said that she is prepared for the job. “Having lived through three hurricanes, you make do. You take the rules and apply them the best you can.” Further, you make new ones if none are in place. We are the first hands to touch a baby and sometimes the last to touch the elderly.
Benjamin hopes to bring that “specialness” to the position of Surgeon General.
