HIV/AIDS Advocate and Former US Surgeon General C. Everett Koop Dies at 96

Last week the HIV/AIDS community lost an influential advocate for treatment and prevention who brought AIDS to the forefront during the Reagan administration: C. Everett Koop, M.D., Sc.D., the former surgeon general of the United States.

Dr. Koop, who died at home in Hanover, N.H., at age 96, made a name for himself by serving as surgeon general from 1981 to 1989 and taking on such issues as HIV/AIDS. Dr. Koop initiated public discussion and government action against AIDS, taking a heroic stance that marked a turning point in HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and knowledge.

"Today we lost a great American and a hero in the fight on HIV/AIDS in this country and the world. When no one else was willing to have the conversation, he took to the bully pulpit and told America the truth that HIV/AIDS was not a 'gay disease'; it was and remains an 'everyone disease,' " Black AIDS Institute Board Chair Neil Lowe, Ph.D., said. "He turned the world's attention to this devastating issue, and today we are better for it. For those of us who engaged in the fight to achieve viral suppression and an AIDS-free generation, we thank you, Dr. Koop, for lighting the path we continue to run on."

Despite Dr. Koop's lack of support on HIV/AIDS from the Reagan administration, Congress and religious groups -- not to mention his own conservative beliefs about premarital sex and homosexuality -- he made it a priority to take a stance against the epidemic. "My position on AIDS was dictated by scientific integrity and Christian compassion," Dr. Koop wrote in his 1991 biography, Koop: The Memoirs of America's Family Doctor.

Dr. Koop believed that information and knowledge were vital in fighting HIV, and he is known for his 36-page 1986 AIDS report. The report educated Americans about the disease, including its transmission modes, risk factors and prevention methods, and encouraged condom use and sex education in schools as early as third grade.

He also created and mailed a seven-page brochure, "Understanding AIDS" (pdf), in 1988 to all 107 million households in the country -- the largest public health mailing ever -- according to a biography of Dr. Koop on the website of the surgeon general.

Today, AIDS reports are released annually to appeal to both the entire U.S. population and specific demographics, including the Black AIDS Institute's State of AIDS reports, which focus on HIV/AIDS in Black communities. Brochures are also available in hospitals, health clinics, schools and other institutions, and we have Dr. Koop to thank for that.

Dr. Koop leaves behind a host of achievements--from calling for a smoke-free society to becoming our nation's chief federal spokesman on HIV/AIDS--and a legacy of leadership. He is also survived by his wife, the former Cora Hogue, whom he married in 2010; three children from his first marriage: Allen Koop, the Rev. Norman Koop and Elizabeth Thompson; and eight grandchildren.

Briana Hess is the interactive media coordinator for the Black AIDS Institute.