If you would like to honor Dr. Bill Foege’s legacy and ensure the lessons he learned and shared continue to endure, you can do so by designating a gift to Becoming Better Ancestors: Nine Lessons to Change the World or the Epidemic Intelligence Service Alumni Association Leading the Way Endowment.
The world lost a visionary champion of health this week with the passing of William (Bill) Foege, MD, MPH, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and public health pioneer whose groundbreaking work in Africa was instrumental in eradicating smallpox.
Over a career of more than 60 years, Dr. Foege dedicated himself to public health, championing such issues as child survival and development, injury prevention, global health, preventive medicine and public health leadership. A tireless proponent of creating partnerships to extend the reach of public health, Dr. Foege spent his career breaking down siloes to bring together the resources, flexibility and expertise needed to move the needle on critical public health topics.
After graduating medical school in 1961, Dr. Foege served as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officer for CDC, and spent time with the Peace Corps in India, experiences that drew him to a career in global health and work with CDC.
Dr. William Foege, along with the CDC Smallpox Eradication Team in Nigeria whose vision and strategy were instrumental in worldwide Smallpox eradication. (CDC Archives)
Dr. William Foege was CDC’s Director from 1977 until 1983. He was an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer Class of 1962, and the Director of the Global Smallpox Eradication Program from 1970 to 1973. (CDC Archives)
A 1967 Nigerian Smallpox Vaccination Team displaying their Ped-O-Jet® pneumatic vaccine injector devices. The foot-powered device provided greater field mobility and played a key role in Smallpox eradication. (CDC Archives)
As chief of CDC’s smallpox eradication program in the 1970s, Dr. Foege was faced with a deadly outbreak of smallpox in eastern Nigeria. With vaccine supply limited, he and his team pioneered a groundbreaking vaccination technique targeting those at highest risk and close contacts of those who had contracted the disease, quickly containing the spread of the virus. This technique of surveillance and containment was so successful that Dr. Foege and his team replicated it across the region, leading to the global eradication of smallpox in 1980.
“We finished the 20 countries of western and central Africa, where we had a goal of getting rid of smallpox in five years,” Dr. Foege said. “We did it in three years and six months, and under budget.”
Dr. Foege rose to become director of CDC from 1977 to 1983, when he left to co-found The Task Force for Child Survival, which is today called The Task Force for Global Health. An international nonprofit based in Atlanta, The Task Force for Global health is dedicated to raising immunization rates and eliminating neglected tropical diseases. Throughout his career, Dr. Foege also served as the director of The Carter Center, a presidential distinguished professor at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health and as a senior medical advisor for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
We finished the 20 countries of western and central Africa, where we had a goal of getting rid of smallpox in five years. We did it in three years and six months, and under budget.
Nigeria’s Smallpox Eradication Program officials on a panel discussing the eradication of Smallpox. (CDC Archives)
1980 photo at CDC with three former directors of the Global Smallpox Eradication Program, as they read the news that smallpox had been eradicated on a global scale. Dr. J. Donald Millar, Dr. William H. Foege and Dr. J. Michael Lane (L-R). (CDC Archives)
In 1967, this long line of Nigerian townspeople await their Smallpox vaccinations during the Smallpox Eradication Campaign, which took place in that country and throughout the world. (CDC Archives)
“In a world that often rewards quick conclusions, Dr. Foege taught that certainty can be a liability,” said Judy Monroe, MD, president and CEO of the CDC Foundation. “It can close us off to learning, blind us to new evidence and limit our ability to adapt. His work showed that progress—real, lasting progress—comes from curiosity, openness and the courage to change course when the truth demands it.”
A prolific writer and speaker, Dr. Foege authored more than 125 professional publications, and through his lectures raised global awareness about such issues as the fight against Guinea worm disease, polio, measles and river blindness. Dr. Foege earned numerous awards over the course of his storied career, including CDC Foundation’s Fries Prize for Improving Health in recognition of his visionary leadership in the eradication of smallpox. In 2012, he received the Presidential Medical of Freedom for his lifetime of service.
Dr. William Foege received the CDC Foundation Hero Award and the Fries Prize for Improving Health.
Dr. William Foege co-founded The Task Force for Child Survival, which is today called The Task Force for Global Health, an international nonprofit based in Atlanta.
Dr. William Foege authored more than 125 professional publications, and through his lectures raised global awareness about such issues as the fight against Guinea worm disease, polio, measles and river blindness.
In February 2023, Dr. Foege was featured on the CDC Foundation Contagious Conversations podcast, along with Mark Rosenberg, MD, founding director of the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Through the Center of Global Health Innovation, Dr. Foege and Dr. Rosenberg codeveloped a project called Becoming Better Ancestors: Nine Lessons to Change the World, dedicated to solving global health concerns and creating positive change for future generations.
“When I think of becoming a good ancestor, what I see in my mind are faces of children 300 years from now, trying to get my attention because they have given me their proxy,” Dr. Foege said. “They are pleading, ‘Please make the best decisions you can for us.’ We have so much power because of that proxy, but we have to use it well.”
Dr. Foege is survived by his wife Paula and two sons. His legacy lives on in the countless lives saved and in the work still ahead.
If you would like to honor Dr. Bill Foege’s legacy and ensure the lessons he learned and shared continue to endure, you can do so by designating a gift to Becoming Better Ancestors: Nine Lessons to Change the World or the Epidemic Intelligence Service Alumni Association Leading the Way Endowment.
Top photo by Billy Howard / Task Force for Global Health