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| Bill Yarber, Dr. Satcher and Jeanne White Ginder |
Dr. William L. Yarber, RCAP senior director and Jeanne White Ginder, Ryan White's mother, presented the award in recognition of Dr. Satcher's outstanding contributions as Surgeon General to advancing sexual health and promoting AIDS/STD prevention.
In 2001, Dr. Satcher released the report, The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Promote Sexual Health and Responsible Sexual Behavior. "This report was the first government recognition of the importance of a sexual health framework to enhance population health in the United States," Dr. Yarber said. Yarber continued by stating that "Dr. Satcher showed extraordinary vision and exceptional courage, commitment and strength in championing the development of this landmark report."
The report was enthusiastically acclaimed by the chair of the American Academy of Family Physicians as an overdue paradigm shift and widely praised by sexual health professionals throughout the United States. However, the report was criticized by some political groups for providing information beyond abstinence and for being too permissive toward homosexuality and condom distribution in schools. Despite the criticism, Dr. Satcher remained in the Surgeon General's office and was allowed to retire with his four-star grade of Admiral. Yarber was a member of a collaborative group of 130 persons representing 90 organizations that made recommendations for the conceptual framework of the report.
Prior recipients of the Ryan White Distinguished Leadership Award include former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, MD; Otis Bowen, MD, former Governor of Indiana and Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and Jeanne White Ginder.
At the celebration, the RCAP Honor Award to recognize persons who have made special contributions to AIDS/STD prevention was presented to: Doris and Robert Fox of Bloomington; Susan Dreisbach, RCAP co-director emeritus of Denver, Colorado; and Doug Wasitis, IU Assistant Vice President for Federal Relations.
Established on March 1, 1994, RCAP is located in the Department of Applied Health Science of the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington and is the only center in the nation that solely focuses on AIDS/STD prevention in rural communities.
