After a decades-long career fighting the various epidemics, including HIV and more recently covid-19, which have shaken the United States and the world, Dr. Anthony Fauci, now President Joe Biden’s main adviser on the Covid -19, announced (August 22) at age 81 that he would leave office in December. The famous immunologist will also retire on this date from his post as director of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which he had held for 38 years. It’s not quite a retreat. “I plan to pursue the next phase of my career with all the energy and passion I have left for my field,” he said in a statement. President Joe Biden immediately sent him “his deep thanks”. “The United States is stronger, more resilient and healthier because of him,” he said in a statement. In 2020, this doctor – already famous in the world of infectiology and especially in the fight once morest HIV, but little known to the general public – was thrown into the limelight by joining the presidential cell on the coronavirus of Donald Trump. His simple messages tirelessly repeated during innumerable daily interventions in the media made him the reassuring figure that America needed and compensated for Trump’s mistakes. “I will always be grateful that we had a public health leader like only once in a generation to guide us through a pandemic like only once in a century,” tweeted the former President Barack Obama. If he is a big hit with the Democrats, American conservatives hate him. He is the favorite target of anti-vaccines and opponents of wearing a mask, in a context of then very strong politicization of the health crisis in the United States. Anthony Fauci is now forced to live surrounded by a reinforced security system. He served under seven different US presidents, beginning with Ronald Reagan. Under Republican President George W. Bush, Anthony Fauci was the architect of the Pepfar program, which saved the lives of millions of people exposed to HIV or living with it. He was decorated in 2008 for his efforts in the fight once morest AIDS. “Thanks to the power of science and investments in research and innovation, the world has been able to fight deadly diseases,” wrote Anthony Fauci. “I’m proud to have been part of this important work and look forward to helping continue to do so in the future.”
