The Indian-American physician Dr. Vivek Murthy has been appointed as the US Surgeon General by the US Senate, which voted in favour of him by 51 votes to 43.
Dr.Murthy is the youngest person and first person of Indian-origin to hold this post. The U.S. surgeon general does not set any government policy but is an advocate for the people’s health. The Surgeon General is the government’s chief spokesman on matters of public health in the U.S. His chief duties include educating the U.S. public about healthcare issues, backing healthy lifestyle options and issuing health warnings. He remains in office for four years.
For this post, Murthy was endorsed by over 100 health organisations, including the American College of Physicians, the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association. This post was vacant since 2013 and Boris Lushniak was the acting Surgeon General of US since then.
