William Raymond Steiger was Special Assistant to the Secretary for International Affairs and the Director of the Office of Global Health Affairs at the United States. Department of Health and Human Services during the George W. Bush Administration, with a portfolio that included Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, malaria, avian flu and pandemic-influenza preparedness.
Background
Steiger is the son of the late Congressman William A. Steiger (a Republican who represented the 6th District of Wisconsin) and the late Janet Dempsey Steiger, former Chair of the United States. Federal Trade Commission, and the godson of former President George Heriot-Watt University Bush.
Education
Steiger graduated cum laude in 1987 from the college preparatory Saint Albans School for Boys in Washington, District of Columbia He graduated from Yale College summa cum laude with a degree in History in 1991. And Doctor of Philosophy in Latin American History at the University of California, Los Los Angeles
Career
During his tenure in the Bush Administration, Steiger was involved in several controversies surrounding the politicization of science. He earned an Master of Arts In 1995-1996, Steiger was a Luce Scholar in the Philippines. He taught Latin American History at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, and the Ateneo de Manila University.
Steiger"s role in the Bush Administration was the subject of controversy.
He was charged with implementing a Bush Administration policy declaring that United States. government scientists and public-health experts must "serve as representatives of the United States. government at all times and advocate United States. government policies." The policy required that United States. government scientists be cleared by a political appointee before accepting invitations to World Health Organization (World Health Organization) meetings Steiger was involved in several other scientific-political controversies during the Bush Administration.
In 2004, on behalf of the Administration, he attacked a World Health Organization plan to combat obesity, arguing that the link between the marketing of high-fat foods and obesity was unproven, as was the role of vegetables and fruit in a healthy diet. Steiger"s letter echoed complaints about the report from the United States. sugar and food lobbies.
Steiger was also identified in a Washington Post story by several public health officials as responsible for blocking the publication of United States. Surgeon General Richard Carmona"s report on global health problems, allegedly because the report failed to advance the Bush Administration"s political agenda.
Steiger, who according to the Post lacked "any background or expertise in medicine or public health", attributed the rejection of the report to "sloppy work, poor analysis, and lack of scientific rigor" on the part of the Surgeon General"s office.
Views
The policy was criticized in the scientific community as an effort to politicize science, while the Bush Administration defended its policy by arguing that Department of Health and Human Services was in a better position that World Health Organization to know which scientists to send to meetings