Global Health

  • Addressing childhood obesity also supports US military readiness (The Hill)

    by Bill Frist

    THE HILL | Our childhood obesity epidemic here in the U.S. is as concerning as it is well-documented.  It’s no secret that obesity trends have been on the rise for the last 20 years. In fact, in 2016, 18.5 percent of youth ages 2-19 were classified as obese. And it’s only getting worse.  The implications of these…

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  • Congress: Close the gap between funding for nutrition research and the toll diet-related disease takes on Americans (Stat)

    by Bill Frist

    STAT | You are what you eat. Every year, new scientific discoveries make clear that food is critical to health. In recent years, nutrition research trials have shown that a Mediterranean diet reduces cardiovascular disease; ultra-processed foods increase weight gain; omega-3 fatty acids improve IQ in preterm babies; cocoa prevents heart attacks; and vitamin D supplements do — well, almost nothing. But many…

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  • How A Rock Star, A Physician-Legislator, And An Evangelical Senator Bonded To Help End The Global AIDS Pandemic: A Backstory (Forbes)

    by Bill Frist

    FORBES | In 1998 before I was Senate Majority Leader, and before Bono’s name became synonymous with addressing the AIDS pandemic and the RED campaign, he visited my Senate office to lobby me, and then collaborate with me, on the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative to provide debt relief to the world’s poorest nations,…

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  • Twenty-Five Years After My House Call To Dolly: What Have We Learned About Cloning And How Did We Learn It? (Forbes)

    by Bill Frist

    FORBES | Twenty-five years ago, the scientific breakthrough of mammalian cloning marked a monumental moment in medicine and science. Anticipating the collision it would have with ethical decision making in medicine, I, the only physician-scientist in the U.S. Senate at the time, journeyed to the University of Edinburgh in Scotland to personally visit Sir Ian…

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  • Reevaluating, Reimagining, And Reinventing Healthcare: Innovation In A Post-Pandemic World (Forbes)

    by Bill Frist

    FORBES | Since its onset, COVID-19 has been the focal point of recent healthcare innovation and advancement. Though the past couple of years have been filled with innumerable advancements of health technologies, much opportunity for reevaluating, reimagining, and reinventing the future of healthcare remains. The next two years will set the scope for what is…

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  • Tennesseans Answer The Call: Volunteer State Leads Rapid Response Efforts For Ukrainian Requested Medical Supplies (Forbes)

    by Bill Frist

    FORBES | We have watched the tragedy in Ukraine unfold with a continual stream of shocking live video footage. Many of us seeing the struggle on our screens have been left wondering how something like this could possibly happen during this day and age. It seems so foreign, so distant, yet—at the same time—so close….

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  • The global crisis of COVID orphanhood (The Hill)

    by Bill Frist

    THE HILL | The flood of Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russia’s brutal invasion reminds us that the pain of war often falls most heavily on those with the least ability to cope, especially children. The same is true of our battle with COVID-19, which has now left over 7 million children worldwide suffering from the loss of…

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  • “A Storm For Which We Are Entirely Unprepared …”: A 2005 Pandemic Prophecy & Call For A “Manhattan Project” For The 21st Century (Forbes)

    by Bill Frist

    FORBES | Two years ago this week, the United States declared a public health emergency in response to what was then being referred to as the 2019 Novel Coronavirus, now widely known to all as COVID-19. Few envisioned how all-encompassing and destructive this virus would become. Few would have believed that two years later, it would have…

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  • Omicron And Our Economic Forecast: What’s Next For Fiscal And Monetary Policy? (Forbes)

    by Bill Frist

    FORBES | The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impact on our domestic economy. It comes as no surprise that the ongoing pandemic will continue to influence our economic policies for years to come. The challenge lies, however, in predicting what this will look like and what the long-term ramifications will be. At the start of…

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  • Your health (and you thought climate change was not about you) (The Hill)

    by Bill Frist

    THE HILL | New Year’s resolutions: chances are we’ve made — and broken — a few of them. And, chances are many of those resolutions have been related to our health: exercise more, eat better, stop smoking. But what if, in 2022, we resolved to improve our health by taking action against climate change? According…

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  • Rethinking How And What We Eat With Dr. Mark Hyman (Forbes)

    by Bill Frist

    FORBES | If Dean Ornish is the father of lifestyle medicine, Dr. Mark Hyman is the food as medicine master. With his New York TimesNYT+1% best-selling books, a top-rated podcast, “The Doctor’s Farmacy,” and visionary leadership of the Center for Functional Medicine at Cleveland Clinic, Hyman is changing the conversation about the nation’s relationship with food to improve…

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  • Health security is national security (The Dallas Morning News)

    by Bill Frist

    The global coronavirus pandemic compels us to rethink how we approach development assistance, cooperation, innovation and international organizations. The Dallas Morning News is publishing a multi-part series on important issues for voters to consider as they decide who to vote for president this year. This is the second installment of our What’s at Stake series,…

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  • Science alone cannot beat the pandemic. We also need outreach about a Covid-19 vaccine (STAT)

    by Bill Frist

    By BILL FRIST, RICHARD PAN, and MAX G. BRONSTEIN STAT | Americans anxiously await two key benefits that a Covid-19 vaccine will deliver: freedom from fear and a return to normal. No single vaccine is likely to offer a panacea for this pandemic. And even if it did, it might not accomplish its job if we don’t deal with…

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  • Seniors are becoming COVID-19 collateral damage. They’re dying because of it, not of it. (USA Today)

    by Bill Frist

    Dr. Martha K. Presley and Dr. Bill Frist – Opinion contributors USAToday.com | Coronavirus has led to social isolation and lack of caregiver support. That can be fatal for fragile elderly people who don’t have the virus. Coronavirus has changed the way we see life and health care. The immediate focus has been on infected patients….

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  • Health leaders: We stuck together to #StayHome, now we can start together to #OpenSafely (USA Today)

    by Bill Frist

    We don’t believe we need to wait until there is zero risk. Many states are already beginning to reopen and this must happen in the safest way possible. USA Today | Americans want our country to open up safely. We have been at this for a number of difficult weeks since the global coronavirus pandemic…

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  • The US should be a leader in the global fight against Covid-19 | Opinion (CNN)

    by Bill Frist

    CNN | Americans are staring down an unprecedented crisis. We’ve already lost more than 71,000 of our fellow citizens. Millions of families live in fear and uncertainty every second. And large swaths of our workforce are losing their jobs each week. Together, we face a common, invisible enemy: the novel coronavirus, Covid-19. As two former US Senate majority leaders, we…

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  • What We Have Lost In Social Connections, We Can Gain In Nature (Forbes)

    by Bill Frist

    FORBES | What We Have Lost In Social Connections, We Can Gain In Nature The coronavirus pandemic has stolen much from us: the company of our friends, the variety of our daily activity, the color of our social occasions, and—for too many—the stability of our livelihoods. It thrusts us into physical distancing, imposed isolation, and loneliness….

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  • Trump’s call to end HIV is a worthy mission both at home and abroad (CNN)

    by Bill Frist

    CNN | In his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump brought attention to a disease that has almost disappeared from the headlines: HIV/AIDS. He pledged to end the epidemic in the United States by 2030, setting commendable, ambitious goals for domestic prevention and treatment efforts. I support President Trump’s pledged investment in domestic…

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  • Make water a top global priority. It’s the best, cheapest way to save lives (USA Today)

    by Bill Frist

    USA TODAY | This summer has seen the unprecedented and simultaneous outbreak of six of eight diseases posing the greatest threats to public health, according to the World Health Organization. You’d think that after the alarmingly fast spread of Ebola in West Africa just a few years ago, we’d have learned our lesson. Instead, the…

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  • Medicine As Currency For Peace: How Global Health Funding Could Change The World (Forbes)

    by Bill Frist

    Forbes | I first met the virus as a young surgical resident in training. I read the initial 1981 report of five people in California who died of a mysterious, unnamed disease. The virus outsmarted and outran us. The first year, we watched helplessly as a few hundred people died. The next year, a few thousand,…

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  • To Whom Much is Given, Much is Expected: Why U.S. Should Lead on Global Health (TEDMED)

    by Bill Frist

    TEDMED | A life-changing story has been missed by the media and the general public. But it will be highlighted in the history books in future generations. The story is that for less than 1% of our federal budget, the United States since 1990 has led the world in reducing by half those living in…

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  • Notes from the Road: Hadza and Clean Water

    by Bill Frist

    Tracy and I are in Africa for two-weeks: Tanzania, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya. The trip will bring together work from Hope Through Healing Hands (global community health) and The Nature Conservancy (intersection nature and health) in conjunction with Pathfinder International (global women’s health). As chairman of Hope Through Healing Hands, I will explore how we can globally impact peoples’ well-being and…

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  • Notes from the Road: Tuungane Program

    by Bill Frist

    Tracy and I are in Africa for two-weeks: Tanzania, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya. The trip will bring together work from Hope Through Healing Hands (global community health) and The Nature Conservancy (intersection nature and health) in conjunction with Pathfinder International (global women’s health). As chairman of Hope Through Healing Hands, I will explore how we…

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  • Notes from the Road: Africa 2018

    by Bill Frist

    It’s been many years since my first trip to Africa, but each trip changes me. I already know this trip will be no different. Tracy and I are here for two-weeks this time: Tanzania, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya. The trip will bring together work from Hope Through Healing Hands (global community health) and The Nature…

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  • World AIDS Day — let’s work with urgency to battle this disease (The Hill)

    by Bill Frist

    THE HILL | The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is one of the most successful humanitarian relief efforts ever undertaken. It is directed at one of the world’s most daunting public health problems. AIDS strikes people in the prime of their lives, shatters families and communities, orphans children, and threatens the ability of…

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  • The indispensable role of America in the world (Salt Lake Tribune)

    by Bill Frist

    SALT LAKE TRIBUNE |The challenges we face in the world today are different but no less severe: Chinese military activities in South China Sea, Russian aggression in Ukraine, Cyber-attacks, North Korean nuclear ambitions. But they also include softer threats ranging from unprecedented food insecurity and famines to mass migration and refugee flows to the threats…

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  • Reach Act will save lives, continue America’s moral leadership (Knoxville News Sentinel)

    by Bill Frist

    KNOXVILLE NEWS SENTINEL | Nearly 15 years ago, Congress passed a historic, bipartisan bill that has since provided life-saving HIV/AIDS treatment to nearly 12 million people and reversed the spread of this devastating disease worldwide. The President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief, better known today as PEPFAR, has been heralded as a model for how…

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  • Reconsider severe international affairs budget cuts (The Tennessean)

    by Bill Frist

    TENNESSEAN | While music, faith, health care, and even hot chicken have made Nashville famous, we also have a robust hub of research, work, and advocacy for global health and development. Thanks to the dozens of humanitarian organizations providing excellent services for vulnerable populations worldwide, Vanderbilt’s Institute for Global Health research and development, and the missions…

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  • Bill Frist: Foreign Aid Saves Lives—And Makes America Safer (Christianity Today)

    by Bill Frist

    CHRISTIANITY TODAY | For the past two decades, we have had a front-row seat in the bipartisan movement to end worldwide preventable, treatable diseases like AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, and to make poverty history. Since 1990, the world has cut in half maternal and child deaths, infectious diseases, and poverty as well as turned the…

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  • The Case for Keeping America’s AIDS Relief Plan (New York Times)

    by Bill Frist

    NEW YORK TIMES | Among global public health advocates, there is a growing concern that President Trump may cut back, or even eliminate, programs that have played a critical role in fighting diseases worldwide. While every administration should strongly review our nation’s overseas commitments, and there are undoubtedly programs that we should cut, I hope…

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  • New Model Can Advance Treatments, Cures For Rare Diseases (Forbes)

    by Bill Frist

    FORBES | If your child suffered from a rare and incurable disease, what would you do to find a cure? My former colleague and good friend Dr. Chip Chambers faced just such a challenge, and took the bull by the horns. Last month, Dr. Chambers organized a unique medical conference that should serve as a model…

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  • It’s time for the U.S. to lead on combating global malnutrition (The Hill)

    by Bill Frist

    THE HILL | One single public health crisis accounts for nearly half (45%) of all child deaths under age five. Every 4 seconds, a person dies from this cause – approximately 21,000 every day. And shockingly, nearly one in nine people globally is affected.  What is this epidemic that has taken so many lives? That has…

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  • My Turn: Around the world, Ayotte is a force for good (Concord Monitor)

    by Bill Frist

    CONCORD MONITOR | Since entering the U.S. Senate in 2011, Sen. Kelly Ayotte has emerged as a leading voice on U.S. national security and foreign policy. Through her service on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Ayotte has established herself as a strong defense hawk, consistently leading efforts to protect national security spending and to call…

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  • The Last Shall Be First: Haitian Women Taking Steps To End Poverty (Forbes)

    by Bill Frist

    FORBES | How is it possible that the people of the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere have to shoulder repeatedly the impact of one natural disaster after another? And what can we do as one of its closest neighbors – and by far the wealthiest country in the hemisphere – to best empower the…

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  • Want a more resilient world? Give mothers access to the tools they deserve (The Hill)

    by Bill Frist

    With Michelle Nunn, CARE President and CEO THE HILL | In 2010, the world watched in horror as more than 200,000 people lost their lives to a devastating earthquake in Haiti. And we shuddered again earlier this month when Hurricane Matthew – the most powerful storm to hit Haiti in more than 60 years – killed…

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  • Hurricane Matthew & Haiti A Week Later

    by Bill Frist

    Hurricane Matthew, a category 4 storm, made landfall at about 7am this morning on the southwestern tip of Haiti.  Tracy and I just left Haiti a week ago, where we traveled with Hope Through Healing Hands and CARE to assess progress made since the massive 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck in January 2010, resulting in…

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  • Why We Need To Discuss Healthy Timing And Spacing Of Pregnancies (Huffington Post)

    by Bill Frist

    HUFFINGTON POST | Did you know that the number of women who die each year as a result of pregnancy is on the rise in the United States? A discussion needed in our country and across the globe is the health and wellbeing of women and children. Read more at Huffington Post.  

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  • Back to Haiti

    by Bill Frist

    NOTES FROM THE ROAD | It’s no secret that I believe investing in global health is absolutely essential, and investments in women and girls—particularly maternal and child health—does nothing less than change a country’s trajectory. Next week, Tracy is joining me as I lead a delegation from all over the United States on a learning…

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  • Charleston Helps Mothers and Children Globally (The Post and Courier)

    by Bill Frist

    This week, global health non-profit Hope Through Healing Hands (HTHH) seeks to galvanize the work already being done in Charleston and South Carolina around an important health initiative. HTHH will co-host a luncheon with faith leaders, nonprofit leaders, university leaders, and others in Charleston to discuss how we can better unite on behalf of child…

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  • Global Health: The Most Effective Policy

    by Bill Frist

    As the 2016 primaries unfold, it’s time for candidates of both parties to focus on expanding the big-hearted policies that have made this nation so exceptional. In recent years, the most effective of those policies has been global health — that is, putting U.S. resources to work saving lives in developing nations by spreading health treatments…

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  • Health Diplomacy in Latin America

    by Bill Frist

    Strategic Health Diplomacy (SHD) recognizes that targeted global health initiatives can be an important foreign policy tool for the United States.  Healthier populations are productive, safe, and less vulnerable to instability. By addressing global health in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the United States can save lives and improve its national strategic interests. Read…

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  • Our Opportunity Where Health and National Security Converge (Forbes)

    by Bill Frist

    FORBES | This week, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and I released a report recommending a policy of strategic health diplomacy, inspired and informed by the success of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).  The report’s publication was announced at a conference in Washington, DC, where many of the architects of PEPFAR came together to advocate…

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  • Retreating From Global Leadership Puts America at Risk

    by Bill Frist

    The 2016 presidential campaign is well under way, and the candidates are already jousting over who is best suited to respond to an increasing number of obstacles abroad, ranging from the refugees crisis in Europe and the Middle East, to the threat of ISIS, to Russian aggression under President Vladimir Putin. As Democrats and Republicans,…

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  • What PEPFAR’s Numbers Mean for National Security

    by Bill Frist

    As of last year, PEPFAR supported anti-retroviral treatment for 7.7 million people, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa, and an astounding 95 percent of at-risk babies were born HIV-free. In 2013, Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the one-millionth baby had been born HIV-free because of PEPFAR-supported prevention of mother-to-child transmission. No nation in history has been…

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  • The Superbug Fight at your Grocery Store

    by Bill Frist

    You may have heard statistics about the over-use of prescription drugs, with reports indicating that up to half of all antibiotics prescribed today are used improperly. It’s a huge problem contributing to the rising threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. What you may not have heard, however, is that the majority of drugs used in the U.S. aren’t even taken…

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  • In Search of the Family Doctor

    by Bill Frist

    Over the course of three visits to Cuba in the past year I have learned much about this nation, its people, its art, and its healthcare system.  We’ve toured polyclinics, hospitals, and medical schools. I’ve met with professors and medical students.  We’ve gotten the government’s healthcare statistics and double checked those with providers on the…

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  • Cuba’s Most Valuable Export

    by Bill Frist

    If you had to guess, would you guess sugar? Cigars? What about doctors and nurses? The Cuban government reportedly earns $8 billion a year in revenues from professional services carried out by its doctors and nurses, with some 37,000 Cuban nationals currently working in 77 countries. The socialist regime allows the government to collect a portion…

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  • Killing the superbug: A call for Congressional action

    by Bill Frist

    When Alexander Flemming accepted his Nobel Prize for the discovery of penicillin, he issued a warning to future generations: his miracle drug—responsible for saving millions of lives—could one day be useless. “It is not difficult to make microbes resistant to penicillin in the laboratory by exposing them to concentrations not sufficient to kill them,” Flemming…

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  • MCC: Foreign aid in action

    by Bill Frist

    Most people are surprised when they learn how little we actually spend on foreign aid. But as we know, global health issues know no boundaries. That’s why it is so very important that spend our foreign aid  money wisely. I’m at The Hill today discussing a model that I think does a great job. Most…

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  • A Conversation on Haiti

    by Bill Frist

    Last week, Hope Through Healing Hands and I had the honor of welcoming the former Prime Minister of Haiti, Laurent Lamothe, to Nashville. I’ve been to Haiti many times, and was thrilled to hear the latest updates on the quantifiable successes in Haiti over the last few years, namely in providing housing for those displaced by the…

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  • A Vaccine For Future Health Crises: A Coordinated Communications Strategy Will Be The Difference (Forbes)

    by Bill Frist

    FORBES | During the Ebola epidemic this fall, I was reminded of the chaos and fear we felt in the Senate in 2001.  When the first anthrax letter was opened in the office of Majority Leader Tom Daschle, no one really even understood what anthrax was, much less how it was contracted, transmitted, or the disease’s…

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  • Ebola Doctor and Survivor Ian Crozier Advocates Global Awareness and Treatment (Hope Through Healing Hands)

    by Bill Frist

    HOPE THROUGH HEALING HANDS BLOG | On Tuesday, March 31, Hope Through Healing Hands had the honor of hosting Dr. Ian Crozier, an Ebola physician and survivor at an event with Siloam Family Health Center. I had the privilege of talking with Ian as he shared his experiences with the packed auditorium. His message is one that…

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  • Bill Frist and Jenny Eaton Dyer: Americans need to step up on global health issues (Dallas News)

    by Bill Frist

    DALLAS NEWS | The Kaiser Family Foundation recently reported that Ebola is still a top-tier global health concern in Americans’ hearts and minds. Although media coverage has slowed, there is still much work to do in West Africa to curb the spread of the virus that has now killed more than 8,500 people. In a promising…

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  • Water for the World

    by Bill Frist

    Back in 2003 I was traveling in Mozambique with a delegation of Senate colleagues to take a closer look at U.S. policy on HIV/AIDS.  We found an HIV emergency, but we also identified a health need even more fundamental: access to clean water. That was the trip that prompted PEPFAR, President George Bush’s unprecedented commitment to address…

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  • Real Conversation on Children

    by Bill Frist

    With WK “Big Kenny” Alphin and Dr. Randy Wykoff, I am launching #Conversation2015, a look at the opportunities we have to make dramatic changes through compassion and caring. Read the introduction to the project here and the overview of children here. Then join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook: #Conversation2015 Over six million children die per year before they…

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  • November Update

    by Bill Frist

    The fall has been exceptionally busy around here with several international trips and speaking engagements, but I was able to be home for Thanksgiving and got to enjoy some of the beautiful autumn color that Middle Tennessee has to offer. I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving holiday. Here’s an update on some of…

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  • Notes From the Road: A Big Picture Impression of Cuba

    by Bill Frist

    Two weeks ago, I was in Cuba as part of a healthcare delegation to learn more about the country as a whole and its healthcare system in particular on a “people-to-people” trip. Cuba is a land of heterogeneity and chaos: an amalgam of cultures, colors, tastes, and textures. Wifi access there is severely limited, so…

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  • Opportunity to Act for Maternal and Child Health

    by Bill Frist

    I just welcomed my second grandson, and the dichotomy between the health care we enjoy and the realities in the developing world is never more stark than when I visited the proud new parents and their precious little one in the hospital—everyone  healthy and well. The biggest killer of women between 15 and 19 in…

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  • An Ebola Turning Point: An Early Diagnosis?

    by Bill Frist

    Read my earlier Ebola primer and a look at what we know about how the virus behaves. As the Ebola situation in West Africa progresses, we are dealing with increasingly complex medical and cultural challenges. I addressed some of the cultural issues in a Morning Consult column last month, and highlighted the importance of identifying infected…

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  • Ebola: Contagious vs Infectious

    by Bill Frist

    Read my earlier Ebola primer. As the CDC treats the nation’s first two Ebola cases there are a lot of questions and concerns about the disease in America—Could it become an epidemic here? How contagious is it? How is it caught? Although my medical specialty is cardiothoracic surgery, I have spent a good deal of…

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  • Ebola Primer and Liberia

    by Bill Frist

    As I hope you’ve heard, there is an outbreak of the Ebola virus in Western Africa right now, particularly in Liberia. Two American aid workers, Dr. Kent Brantly with Samaritan’s Purse and Nancy Writebol, a volunteer working with the faith group Service in Mission, were recently infected. I’ve been discussing the situation with the Centers…

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  • Healthy Timing and Spacing of Pregnancies: My Conversation with Melinda Gates

    by Bill Frist

    Yesterday morning, I had the privilege of sitting down with Melinda Gates, Scott Hamilton, Jenny Eaton Dyer, and a room full of caring people to talk about Hope Through Healing Hands’ Faith-Based Coalition for Healthy Mothers & Children Worldwide. Chatting with both Melinda and Scott is always such a pleasure—especially about such an important issue…

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  • Notes from the Road: Building Infrastructure for Long Term Growth

    by Bill Frist

    *I’m in Rwanda this week representing Hope Through Healing Hands with Dr. Paul Farmer, Partners in Health Rwanda, and Harvard Medical School. These dispatches from the road are my personal journal–recording what I’ve seen and learned on this trip. See my pre-trip thoughts, Monday’s blog, and Tuesday’s notes. This morning we met with patients and physicians at Centre Hospitalier…

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  • Notes from the Road: Cancer Care in Rural Africa

    by Bill Frist

    *I’m in Rwanda this week representing Hope Through Healing Hands with Dr. Paul Farmer, Partners in Health Rwanda, and Harvard Medical School. These dispatches from the road are my personal journal–recording what I’ve seen and learned on this trip. See my pre-trip thoughts, and Monday’s blog.  Who says you can’t treat patients suffering from cancer…

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  • Notes from the Road: Rwanda and Health Diplomacy in Action

    by Bill Frist

    KIGALI, RWANDA | Why are we in Rwanda? What makes it a unique place to learn about health policy, and health care delivery? What will we learn that can make us smarter as we address health issues back at home? I thought through these questions on the flight to Rwanda, and I had plenty of…

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  • Off to Rwanda: Considering Child Nutrition

    by Bill Frist

    I was in Aspen earlier this week working on some of the challenges facing healthcare and the health industry in the US, but it’s time to switch gears. Sunday, I leave for Rwanda to lead a one week group trip with my friend Dr. Paul Farmer to see some of the work being done by…

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  • Investing in Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide

    by Bill Frist

    Earlier this week, a project we’ve been working on for months finally came to fruition! Hope Through Healing Hands announced a partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to launch the Faith-Based Coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide. Since 2004, Hope Through Healing Hands has made investments to support infrastructure, sustainable health development,…

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  • Why the U.S. must lead on Disabilities Treaty

    by Bill Frist

    (Reuters, November 5, 2013 ) By Bill Frist In an HIV clinic in Africa, a man born deaf holds a single sheet of paper with a plus sign. He looks for help, but no one at the clinic speaks sign language. In fact, the staff doesn’t seem interested in helping him at all. He returns…

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  • Global Engagement Pays off for U.S.

    by Bill Frist

    By Sen. Bill Frist, M.D. and Gov. Phil Bredesen During difficult economic times, there is a tendency for Americans to turn inward, to focus on domestic challenges, especially as this country emerges from a decade defined by two major wars and a crushing financial crisis. Though the urge to withdraw and retrench is understandable, it…

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  • Global Engagement Pays off for U.S.

    by Bill Frist

    (The Tennessean, August 17, 2013) By Sen. Bill Frist, M.D. and Gov. Phil Bredesen During difficult economic times, there is a tendency for Americans to turn inward, to focus on domestic challenges, especially as this country emerges from a decade defined by two major wars and a crushing financial crisis. Though the urge to withdraw…

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  • Future of Healthcare is Personalized Medicine

    by Bill Frist

    (Diplomatic Courier, July 08, 2013) By Sen. Bill Frist, M.D. It is a common refrain that America has the best health care in the world, but our people are far from the healthiest. We spend twice as much as any other nation on health services, yet rank dismally, behind more than twenty other countries in…

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  • What a Difference a Decade Makes

    by Bill Frist

    (The Hill, May 28, 2013) By Rep. Barbara Lee and Bill Frist A Democratic Congresswoman and a former Republican Senator aren’t afforded many opportunities to work together. Especially at a time of fiscal crisis when every dollar is scrutinized and fought over, partisanship pushes us into opposite corners. But we agree on a program that…

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  • A Crucial Moment for Global Nutrition

    by Bill Frist

    (The Hill, May 22, 2013) On June 8, the United Kingdom, under the leadership of Prime Minister David Cameron, will host “Nutrition for Growth,” a high-level meeting where donor governments, including our own, will pledge funding and other commitments to address undernutrition and its devastating impact on the long-term health and productivity of millions of…

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  • We Must Continue Our Legacy of Saving Lives

    by Bill Frist

    (Roll Call, March 7, 2013) Now is no time to shy away from our health investments By Bill Frist A decade ago, as I was beginning my time as Senate majority leader, bipartisan consensus in Washington helped launch a new era of progress in global health just when it was sorely needed. Twenty years had…

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  • Personalized Medicine

    by Bill Frist

    (The Hill, July 10, 2012) It’s time to think of health in a disruptive way. Policy must set the enabling landscape, but the truly dramatic and the transformative will come from the exploding but still very young field of personalized medicine. All healthcare is local, and all health is personal. Personalized medicine is healthcare targeted…

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  • Is AIDS the last bipartisan issue?

    by Bill Frist

    (The Week, July 31) These days, Washington can’t agree on anything. Thankfully, though, some brave lawmakers are still willing to cross the aisle to fight a deadly disease. We live in fiercely contentious times. Every day, it seems, a new issue arises that Democrats and Republicans cannot agree on. Health care, taxes, energy, favorite flavor…

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  • Helping Haiti Build Back Better

    by Bill Frist

    (The Washington Times, July 13, 2012) As a board member of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, I traveled to Haiti last month to check on the post-earthquake progress being made through the fund’s projects. What I saw confirms that developmental aid can have a greater impact than the humanitarian aid most people know. Moments after…

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  • The world needs more health-care workers — millions more

    by Bill Frist

    (The Week, Posted on June 19, 2012) By Bill Frist, M.D. The most impressive part of any hospital or health clinic is the caring, skilled employees who prevent and treat illness. But the workforce we have is not enough.   As I visit health programs in far off corners of the world and right here…

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  • 5 reasons deficit hawks should lay off global health initiatives

    by Bill Frist

    (The Week, April 24, 2012) By Bill Frist, M.D. America’s national debt is ballooning at a worryingly rapid pace. But some programs ought to be spared the chopping block. Government spending is about to get chopped — no matter who wins the next presidential election. President Obama and his GOP challenger Mitt Romney have both…

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  • Health As A Currency For Peace

    by Bill Frist

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  • Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act 2010

    by Bill Frist

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  • Sri Lanka Tsunami

    by Bill Frist

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  • Hope Through Healing Hands Water PSA

    by Bill Frist

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  • Frist Back From Haiti

    by Bill Frist

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  • Meeting With GE Foundation in Cambodia

    by Bill Frist

    I had a wonderful meeting today in Pnom Penh with Dararith Lim, health executive for General Electric who oversees the GE Healthymagination initiative for the underserved in Cambodia. I have been on the advisory board for the Healthymagination initiative for the past couple of years, exploring the opportunities that American technology, initiative, and business can…

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  • Refugees International Gala

    by Bill Frist

    05.07.10 This past evening, I attended to the 31st Annual Refugees International Gala at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium with many former Senate colleagues and advocates for those displaced by crisis or conflict. At the gala, I was honored to receive the McCall-Pierpaoli Humanitarian Award, which was named in the honor and memory of Penny…

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  • Bill Frist Receives 2011 NBAA Humanitarian Award

    by Bill Frist

    Bill Frist Receives 2011 NBAA Humanitarian Award from Bill Frist on Vimeo.   Bill Frist Flies Missions Worldwide to Help Those in Need Esteemed doctor, pilot and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has been awarded the National Business Aviation Association’s (NBAA’s) 2011 Al Ueltschi Award for Humanitarian Leadership in recognition of his life-saving efforts…

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  • Frist Visits Refugee Camp in East Africa

    by Bill Frist

    This week I traveled with Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden to refugee camps in eastern Kenya along the Somali border to witness the impact of the most acute food security emergency on earth.We need your help, and your help I promise will make a difference. Yesterday we visited intake centers just on the border where…

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  • Sen. Frist heads to Kenya to study famine’s effects

    by Bill Frist

    More than 29,000 young children have died of malnutrition and disease in Somalia in the past 90 days. We are now on our way to the Horn of Africa to see what more we as a nation can do. Early this morning, our plane left Washington, D.C., bound for East Africa. I’m flying with Second Lady…

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  • East Africa – “The Children’s Famine”

    by Bill Frist

    As I write this, East Africa is in turmoil. Roughly 12 millions people, almost 5 million of which are children, along the Horn of Africa are experiencing the worst drought in sixty years. Tens of thousands have already died and millions more are at risk, especially children, who are dying at such a rate this…

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