Rwandan President Mourns Public Health Pioneer Paul Farmer

President Paul Kagame has joined the outpouring of grief and emotional tributes after the death of Partners In Health co-founder and Harvard Medical School professor Dr Paul Farmer, who was renowned for his groundbreaking work in global public health.

Dr Farmer's body has been repatriated to his native United States following a private final farewell ceremony in Kigali. He died on February 21, 2022. Dr Farmer was 62, and is survived by his wife, Didi Bertrand Farmer, and their three children.

Kagame said in a tweet: "The weight of his loss is in many ways personal, to the country of Rwanda (which he loved and to which he contributed so much during its reconstruction), to my family and to myself. I know there are many who feel this way in Africa and beyond."

According to Partners in Health, Farmer was Kolokotrones University Professor and chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, chief of the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and co-founder and chief strategist of Partners In Health.

"Dr Farmer and his colleagues pioneered novel, community-based treatment strategies that demonstrate the delivery of high-quality health care in resource-poor settings. He wrote extensively on health, human rights, and the consequences of social inequality. Dr Farmer was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, from which he was the recipient of the 2018 Public Welfare Medal," the statement said.

Dr. Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners in Health (1959 - 2022)

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