Dr. Anthony Fauci has served as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases under seven presidents stemming back to the 1980s.
He is often seen as the leading voice in combating COVID-19, which has now killed more than 440,000 people and infected over 26 million across the country. A disproportionate number of those have been Black, Latino and Indigenous people.
During the past administration, Dr. Fauci at times contradicted President Trump, who would often promote unscientific or unproven cures, minimize the threat of COVID-19 or underestimate the gravity of the emergency.
“The leadership from the top was more anecdotally based than rigorous science based,” Dr. Fauci said to Latino USA. “So something could get done, or get the attention of the leadership based merely on someone who makes a phone call to the president and says, ‘hey, I like this drug. It’s really great,’ I would say, ‘well, excuse me, but what is the scientific evidence that says it’s great?’ And that was the thing that was very stressful.”
Today, Dr. Fauci is President Joe Biden’s chief medical advisor and is back at the forefront of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
On this episode of Latino USA, Dr. Fauci discusses his early childhood, similarities in combating the AIDS/HIV epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic, and what the Biden administration plans on doing to eliminate inequalities that have led to Black and Brown communities being heavily impacted by the virus.
Featured image by AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster.
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