Columbia University - New Strategy to Fight AIDS in Africa

Dr. Allan Rosenfield succumbed to ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) October 12th after a valiant 3-year battle against this relentless affliction.

In his obituary in the New York Times, it was noted that Allan “worked for more than four decades on women’s reproductive health and human rights, innovative family planning studies and strategies to address maternal deaths because of AIDS in developing countries. Perhaps his most notable effort was the Mother-to-Child Transmission program, which has so far brought comprehensive health care to more than 500,000 women and infants.”

He was mentor, counselor, hero to thousands of us in the international health field for those four wonderful decades.

Among the many major global initiatives organized from Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health during Dr. Rosenfield’s tenure as Dean was the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs (with $125 million from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief).

It is an honor and privilege for Future Choices to re-run Allan’s discussion of Columbia University's AIDS initiative in Africa, which he recorded in 2005, about the same time that he learned he had ALS. His wisdom and insights are as meaningful now as they were then.

Allan Rosenfield,
Dean, School of Mailman Public Health
Columbia University

In “Columbia University – New Strategy To Fight AIDS in Africa” Dr. Allan Rosenfield, Dean of Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health, describes the ‘tsunami that is happening every day in Africa”: the AIDS epidemic, but offers hope that with the wise infusion of support from the U.S. and other European nations we can plausibly hope for victory over this disease within our lifetime.

Brief Bio of Dr. Rosenfield

Once he completed medical school and his residency program in obstetrics and gynecology, Allan Rosenfield proceeded directly to Nigeria and launched a distinguished career devoted to the improvement of women's health in the developing world. He is now one of the foremost leaders in reproductive health and widely acclaimed in the U.S. and internationally. -->> Read further

Remembering Allan Rosenfield

By NICHOLAS KRISTOF
10/16/08
You probably don’t know the name Allan Rosenfield, but he was one of the giants in the world of public health, and his legacy can be found throughout the developing world. |MORE

A Tribute to Allan Rosenfield

In celebration of Dr. Allan Rosenfield's 20 years as Dean of the Mailman School of Public Health, on June 7th – 8th, 2006, Columbia University President Lee Bollinger hosted a tribute dinner and special World Leaders Forum on some of the key public health challenges to which Dr. Rosenfield has dedicated his professional life– women's health, human rights, and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. Dr. Rosenfield's family, friends, and colleagues from around the world came together to participate in these events in his honor. To learn more about Dr. Rosenfield's 40-year career in advancing the health and human rights of people worldwide please go here.

Leading Voices in Reproductive Health Honor Dr. Allan Rosenfield's Life and Legacy

by Emily Douglas, October 13, 2008
Rosenfield was honored at the International Women's Health Coalition's 2007 "Invest in Women" Gala, where he remarked that, "We still live in a world where it took a lecture at an international AIDS meeting, followed by an article in a medical journal, to persuade policymakers that women living with HIV/AIDS deserve HIV drugs in their own right, not just to prevent infection in their babies at birth." |MORE