Surgeon General of the United States
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- This article is about the head of the U.S. Public Health Service. For other Surgeons General, see Surgeon General (disambiguation).
The Surgeon General of the United States is the head of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and, ex officio, is the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the government of the United States. The Surgeon General is nominated by the U.S. President and confirmed by the Senate for a 4-year term of office. In carrying out all responsibilities, the Surgeon General reports to the Assistant Secretary for Health, who is the principal advisor to the Secretary of Health and Human Services on public health and scientific issues, and who serves as the overall head of the United States Public Health Service. The office of Surgeon General is currently vacant. The former Surgeon General, Richard Carmona, appointed by President George W. Bush in 2002, left office upon his term expiring in July 31, 2006. [1]. Rear Admiral Kenneth P. Moritsugu is functioning as the Acting Surgeon General. [2]
The Surgeon General functions under the direction of the Assistant Secretary for Health and operationally heads the 6,000-member Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service, a cadre of health professionals who are on call 24 hours a day, and can be dispatched by the Secretary of HHS or the Assistant Secretary for Health in the event of a public health emergency. The Surgeon General is also the ultimate award authority for several public health awards and decorations, the highest of which that can be directly awarded is the Surgeon General's Medal (the highest award bestowed by board action is the Distinguished Service Medal).
The Surgeon General also has many informal duties, such as educating the American public about health issues and advocating healthy lifestyle choices.
The office also periodically issues health warnings. Perhaps the best known example of this is the Surgeon General's Warning labels that can be found on all packages of American cigarettes. A health warning also appears on alcoholic beverages.
Past American Surgeons General have often been characterized by their outspoken personalities and often controversial proposals on how to reform the U.S. health system. Because the office is not a particularly powerful one, and has little direct impact on policy-making, Surgeons General are often vocal advocates of unconventional, unusual, or even unpopular health policies. General C. Everett Koop and Joycelyn Elders were two former Surgeons General who were well known for their controversial ideas, especially on sex education.
The U.S. Public Health Service was under the direction of the Office of the Surgeon General and was an independent government agency until 1953 at which point it was integrated into the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and later into the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Although the U.S. Public Health Service and the Surgeon General were at various times under the umbrella of the Department of the Treasury or the Federal Security Agency, the agency operated with a substantial amount of independence.
The U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force also have officers overseeing medical matters in their respective services who hold the title Surgeon General.
In Republic of Ireland and United Kingdom, the term chief medical officer is used as equivalent.
[edit] Service rank
The Surgeon General holds the rank of Vice Admiral [3] in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, one of the seven Uniformed services of the United States. Officers of the PHSCC and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps are classified as non-combatants, but can fall under the uniform code of military justice (UCMJ) and the Geneva Convention when designated by the Commander in Chief as a military force. Officers Members of these services wear uniforms that are similar to those worn by the U.S. Navy, except that the commissioning devices, buttons, and insignia are unique. Officers in PHS and NOAA wear unique devices which are similar to U.S. Navy Staffing Corps Officers (e.g., Medical Services Corps, Supply Corps, etc.)
