Anthony Fauci, who has led the United States’ response to infectious disease outbreaks since the 1980s, will retire at the end of President Joe Biden’s current term, he said in interviews Monday.
The 81-year-old told Politico and CNN he will step down from his position as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to pursue other avenues sometime before January 2025.
“Obviously you can’t go on forever. I want to do other things in my career even though I’m at a pretty advanced age,” Fauci, who is also Biden’s senior medical adviser, told CNN.
He told Politico he doesn’t plan to stay in office long enough to see Covid-19 as the disease isn’t going away any time soon.
“I think we’re going to live with that,” said Fauci, who was appointed director of the National Institutes of Health’s NIAID in 1984 and has served under seven presidents.
When Covid first spread globally from China, he became a trusted source of reliable information and reassured the public with his calm and professorial demeanor in frequent media appearances.
But his candid stance on America’s failure to get a grip on the virus put Fauci at odds with former President Donald Trump and made the doctor-scientist a hated figure for some on the right.
Fauci is now living with security protection after his family received death threats and harassment.
In his Politico interview, however, he was forgiving towards his former archenemy Trump.
“We’ve developed an interesting relationship,” said the Italian-American.
“Two guys from New York, different in their opinions and ideology, but still two guys who grew up in the same neighborhood of this city. I think we’re related in that way.”
In the 1980s, Fauci became a lightning rod for criticism that the government was not doing enough to stem the rise of HIV-AIDS — but he later forged close working ties with activists.
His achievements include implementing a fast-track system that expands access to antiretroviral drugs and working with former President George HW Bush to allocate more resources.
Under President George W. Bush, Fauci was the architect of the President’s Contingency Plan for AIDS Response (PEPFAR), credited with saving millions of lives in sub-Saharan Africa.
As a scientist, he is credited with developing effective treatments for formerly deadly inflammatory diseases and helping to understand how HIV destroys the body’s defenses.
Despite his many responsibilities, he continues to treat patients at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
#Americas #Fauci #retiring #Bidens #tenure
