Remembering the Life and Legacy of Global Public Health Hero Bill Foege
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Public Citizen mourns the death of William (Bill) Foege, a giant of global public health whose work helped save millions of children’s lives through vaccination.
Liza Barrie, Campaign Director for Global Vaccines Access at Public Citizen, issued the following statement:
“Bill Foege helped change the course of global health. He was instrumental in establishing global childhood vaccination and was a driving force behind the Child Survival Revolution, advancing the principle that every child deserves protection from preventable disease.
“He helped lead the eradication of smallpox and later, as Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, brought scientific rigor and moral clarity to public service.
“In his final years, Bill Foege watched with anger as vaccine disinformation gained political power. He explicitly and publicly warned about Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s role in undermining vaccine confidence and the real-world harm that was already becoming visible, including in a 2025 STAT essay he authored and in a New York Times opinion piece by former CDC leaders.
“Bill Foege’s life stands as a stark contrast to today’s erosion of public health leadership. His legacy is a reminder that principled, evidence-based leadership saves lives, and that abandoning it costs them.”
Michael Abrams, M.P.H, Ph.D., Senior Health Researcher at Public Citizen, issued this statement about Dr. Foege:
“Professor and Director Foege was a true public health champion who led the global effort to eradicate a highly infectious and deadly disease, among a lifetime of substantive health advancements. Dr. Foege’s distinguished contributions to human health endure despite bad leadership recently spread across the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. His commitment to evidence-based public health is a beacon for those of us yet working to advance human well-being.”
Public Citizen extends its condolences to Bill Foege’s family, colleagues, and the generations of public health workers shaped by his leadership.