Dr. Paul Farmer
For our July Americans Who Tell the Truth feature, we chose Dr. Paul Farmer because he spent his life living into the belief that we have a moral responsibility to accompany those who suffer. He didn’t simply talk about equity. He embodied it. Whether someone lived in a remote village or a place forgotten by the rest of the world, he believed no one should be beyond the reach of care.
In a time that often feels polarized and increasingly focused on ourselves, Dr. Farmer reminds us that real change begins when we choose to lean in rather than pull away. He became part of the answer by building relationships rooted in respect, dignity, and trust. He invested in people, strengthened local health systems, and helped create communities that could care for themselves long after he was gone.
There is something deeply moving about a life spent making sure others had access to healing without ever losing sight of their humanity. His example invites us to ask not only, “What can I do?” but also, “Who am I willing to stand beside?”
As we hold the people of Venezuela in our hearts following the devastating earthquake, Dr. Farmer's life offers a gentle reminder that compassion is more than a feeling. It asks us to draw near, to pay attention, and to remember that no community's suffering is too distant to matter.
Enjoy Dr. Paul Farmer’s wisdom below.
“If access to health care is considered a human right, who is considered human enough to have that right?
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Portrait used with permission from Americans Who Tell the Truth
Our friends at Americans Who Tell the Truth shared this about Dr. Paul Farmer:
Medical Anthropologist and physician Paul Farmer has dedicated his life to treating some of the world’s poorest populations, in the process helping to raise the standard of health care in underdeveloped areas of the world. A founding director of Partners In Health (1987), an international charity organization that provides direct health care services and undertakes research and advocacy activities on behalf of those who are sick and living in poverty, Dr. Farmer and his colleagues have successfully challenged the policymakers and critics who claim that quality health care is impossible to deliver in resource-poor areas.
Paul Farmer began his lifelong commitment to Haiti in 1983. When he was still a student, he began working with villages in Haiti’s Central Plateau, determined to bring modern health care to the poorest people in the Western Hemisphere. Starting with a one-building clinic in the village of Cange, Farmer’s project has grown to a multiservice health complex that includes a primary school, an infirmary, a surgery wing, a training program for health outreach workers, a 104-bed hospital, a women’s clinic, and a pediatric care facility. It has become a model for health care for poor communities around the world.
Farmer was born in Massachusetts and grew up in Florida with his five siblings. He received a bachelor’s degree from Duke in 1982, and both an M.D. and Ph. D. in Anthropology from Harvard in 1990. He has written or co-written over 100 scholarly papers, as well as books including Infections and Inequalities (1998) and Pathologies of Power ( 2003).
In 2003 author Tracy Kidder wrote a bestselling book about Farmer and his work, Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World. This book brought international attention and support to Farmer’s work.
Among the numerous awards Dr. Farmer has received in the last decade is the Heinz Award for the Human Condition. Its citation reads, “To say that Dr. Paul Farmer is a life saver does not begin to describe the impact of his work. Dr. Farmer and his extraordinary organization have been a force in making the world confront the health care needs of those who historically have never had access to proper care. Because of his dedication and compassion, critical health care services are now being administered around the globe to people who previously would have been left untreated.”
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“If access to health care is considered a human right, who is considered human enough to have that right?" asks Dr. Paul Farmer. His question "Who is considered human enough? applies not only to access to healthcare, but also shelter and food... and sustainable wages... and a strong and inclusive safety net to hold everyone in a community, a city, a nation, the world. No one left out. No one left behind.
Who is considered human enough? Shouldn’t we all be seen as enough, human and non-human. Mother Earth, sister sky, brother water and all that sustains our life, may we care for you, may we stand for you, may we love you. (Pat)