Do Americans Want a Surgeon General?

Posted on | July 11, 2007 | Comments Off on Do Americans Want a Surgeon General?

On July 10, Congress listened to former Surgeons General C. Everett Koop, David Satcher, and Richard Carmona on the future of this office and what might be done to improve what appears to be a steady decline in its effectiveness and usefulness to the American public. This morning’s reports focused on the comments of Dr. Carmona, who stated that his desires to delve into diverse areas of public interest, from stem cells to sex education to global warming, were impeded by timely discouragement from officials at HHS and the White House. No surprises there. The interview process on the front end made clear the ceremonial and celebratory intent of this role under this administration. They delivered on that promise.

The question, now, is not what former Surgeons General who have resisted (and at times ignored) such political incursion in varying degrees think should be done, but rather what the American people wish to be done. Do Americans know there is (or ever was) a Surgeon General, and do they care? Do they recall specific Surgeons General and what are their opinions (favorable and unfavorable) regarding those individuals? Are younger generations as aware of this position as older Americans?

I conducted a nationwide study with Yankelovich in September 2006 – involving more than 1,000 Americans — that addressed some of these issues and touched on the three Surgeons General mentioned above as well as Jocelyn Elders, M.D., the first Surgeon General under President Clinton.

Below are some highlights from the results of that study, or click here to see the full summary report.

Most Americans, 71%, say they know whether or not the United States has a Surgeon General. At the same time, only one in three (32%) is able to recall the name of any particular Surgeon General.
C. Everett Koop is by far the most commonly recalled Surgeon General, with 28% volunteering his name on an unaided basis.
Jocelyn Elders is the next highest at 3%.
Larger numbers of Americans say they recall specific Surgeons General when their respective names are read (aided).
Total awareness for C. Everett Koop is 54% — 28% unaided, 25% aided.
Jocelyn Elders (33%) is the second most remembered Surgeon General, followed by David Satcher (19%) and Richard Carmona (6%).
C. Everett Koop is regarded more favorably by Americans than are other Surgeons General. Still, most Americans do not feel they know enough to have an opinion either way on Koop or any of the other Surgeons General.
Thirty-seven percent hold a favorable opinion about Koop; 3% an unfavorable opinion. Large age and, to a lesser extent, gender differences exist in Americans’ knowledge and opinions about both Surgeons General as a whole and C. Everett Koop specifically.
Knowledge and awareness of Surgeons General is highest among older Americans. Younger Americans – those under 35 years of age – are generally unaware of any Surgeon General.
Men are more aware than are women. A majority of Americans 55 years of age or older are aware of and have favorable opinions of C. Everett Koop. Forty-three percent of men have favorable opinions of Koop; 5%, unfavorable. Among women, the figures are 31% favorable and 2% unfavorable.
Over 50% of Americans report awareness of C. Everett Koop; Americans are least aware of Carmona.
Men and consumers between the age of 55-64 are more aware of Koop and Elders than others are.
Nearly 40% of Americans have a favorable opinion of C. Everett Koop.
Koop is favored more by 25+ year olds — and particularly among those over the age of 54.

If an important indicator of caring about and valuing an office is an awareness of the individual who holds the office, it is fair to ask, what was it about Koop (under Reagan), his times, and his performance as Surgeon General 30 years ago that allows him today to have a combined unaided and aided name recognition of 54% with very high favorables; compared to Carmona (under Bush), who while in office had a name recognition of 6% and favorables at 1/20th the level of Koop?

If Americans recall positively Surgeon General Koop now, so many years later, perhaps Congress should try to figure out why. In doing so, they may be in a better position to strengthen a role that was, at one time in history, of significant import, but which today isn’t even on the radar screen for two-thirds of Americans under the age of 35.

What do you think? Do we need a Surgeon General, or should we just scrap the position?