U.S. Surgeon General tells IU to act on health concerns

Students need to take action on matters of their personal health and must hold themselves accountable for their choices, acting U.S. Surgeon General Rear Admiral Kenneth P. Moritsugu said Wednesday while speaking at IU.\nThe country's highest-ranking medical official spoke to a crowd of about 400 students, faculty and community members in the Whittenberger Auditorium in the Indiana Memorial Union as a part of the 60th anniversary of the IU School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.\nMohammad Torabi, chairman of the IU Department of Applied Health Science, opened the meeting with a Persian saying -- "Prevention is the real cure" -- to highlight the underlying theme of Moritsugu's speech. \nMoritsugu said his roles as surgeon general include preventing disease, preparing the country for possible medical emergencies and eliminating health disparities. He said instead of waiting until there is a problem to take action on medical issues, the country must take the steps beforehand in order to save lives and money. \nBy the year 2015, $4 trillion will be spent on health care in the United States, 20 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product, he said.\n"There's something fundamentally wrong here; our investment in health care in this country has not yielded a fair payoff," he said. "We need to focus on primary prevention whenever and wherever we can so that we have less to take care of downstream."\nHe stressed the importance of local implementation of medical suggestions released by the Office of the Surgeon General.\n"The Office of the Surgeon General is a science, evidence and data office. Our role is to provide (information) to the general public," Moritsugu said. "Having provided that information, it really comes down to the states -- execution is important at the local level."\nMoritsugu mentioned tobacco control, fighting obesity and making healthy choices more convenient as important things for students and the community to work on.\nHe encouraged everyone to consider a career in public health, citing the many job opportunities. He also said HPER students are not the only ones who can have careers in health, as he claimed every major intersects with health somehow. For example, he said, a grocery store involves commerce, transportation, housing and education. We need to think of health in terms of a model that goes beyond the normal borders, he said.\nWhile the admiral attempted to motivate IU, audience members used the question and answer time to challenge him on making information about sex, HIV and condoms more accessible. When asked about the possible campus smoking ban, Moritsugu said research shows no amount of second-hand smoke is safe, and it is the community's job to make its own decision based on that information.\n"I challenge you to map out a course of action and involve others in achieving it," Moritsugu said. "Keep asking the right questions, those that need to be answered, not just those that are easily answered"