Tom Daschle to Be Secretary of Health and Human Services

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota will the Obama’s Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary according to Democratic officials. The department is responsible for a national strategy on AIDS research and prevention.

Daschle has an excellent record on combating HIV/AIDS. He’s the co-chair of the ONE Foundation and in July led a delegation of policymakers to Rwanda, where he visited with HIV patients in clinics to highlight the suffering caused by AIDS in that country and some of the efforts being made to combat it. At the time he told reporters:

“We have a moral obligation to assist those suffering from abject poverty and disease. Investments in the development of our world’s poorest nations must be a pillar of our foreign policy going forward, no matter who is leading the next administration.  I am encouraged by the tremendous impact that these programs have had in fighting the spread of disease across Africa. Over the last four years, two million more people living with AIDS now have access to lifesaving medication.”

At the Democratic National Convention in August, Daschle went to a local high school to work with volunteers assembling AIDS caregiver kits. Daschle was previously co-chair of Obama’s presidential campaign.