Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Dr. Vivek Murthy, the 19th and 21st Surgeon General of the USA, is the only member of the Indian Diaspora who has served twice as the Surgeon General. He spoke with Mandayam Osuri Thirunarayanan for India Currents on how AI, health policy, and loneliness will shape the future of healthcare.

This interview has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

MT: As the ‘Nation’s Doctor’, what did a day in your life as a Surgeon General look like?

Dr. Vivek Murthy: “Every day was different. On some days, I could be in Washington, DC, meeting with colleagues and collaborators throughout the Department of Health and Human Services at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), working with other departments that intersect with health, for instance, the Department of Education, the Department of Defense, or the White House. 

Other days, there could be meetings with legislators on Capitol Hill about critical public health issues and policy measures. I also spent time internally working with our team to prepare advisories and reports and to design campaigns that would help advance public health causes.”

MT: How does the Surgeon General’s office impact health policy and legislation?

Dr. Murthy: “The Surgeon General’s Office doesn’t create laws or issue funding. It works directly with communities on public health education and with lawmakers to inform policy. And so the public health priorities that the office lays out and the actions it calls for often help shape public understanding and public policy. The reports and advisories generated by the Office of the Surgeon General are used by policymakers at the local, state, and national levels to create regulations and laws regarding public health issues.

MT: How did your travels throughout the country inform your work? 

“My team and I traveled a lot and visited communities all across America, and even outside of America, in Japan, India, and the United Kingdom. During many of the visits, we listened to communities in town halls, in churches, and in synagogues. We visited schools and universities, and talked to students about the issues we were working on and to learn about the issues that were on their minds. These resulted in advisories and public health campaigns that we felt reflected the best of science and practice. Some of these include:

MT: How will AI and robotics change the landscape of healthcare in the United States?

Dr. Murthy: “Artificial intelligence is already changing health care as well as scientific research and discovery. We are already seeing benefits in the health care system, and there are many more to come. I’m excited about that, but I also think we have to be cautious and understand some of the downside risks of artificial intelligence, and we have to manage those risks.

AI and robots could have a negative impact on social interactions. Doctors and nurses can show empathy and truly care for their patients, which is something that AI and robots cannot do.

Algorithm-based AI and robots can never substitute for human beings. They can augment our lives, but they never fully replace our friends, family, and the people who care for us. One of the things that makes us human is “our imperfection.”

If you have a conflict with a friend or spouse, and that person’s words and reactions are being curated by an algorithm, that would not feel real or authentic. It would not be human. It is our quirks, including our imperfections, that make us who we are. 

AI is going to certainly make a lot of things better, but I think it’s up to us to draw boundaries around the use of AI and study where it’s helping and where it’s harming us. Our humanity is something that can never be fully replaced by AI. We shouldn’t try to make it so.”

MT: Can AI help people combat loneliness?

Dr. Murthy: “AI may be able to serve as a social coach at times or nudge us to reach out to our family and friends, but what it cannot and should not do is be a substitute for people or human interaction.”

MT: What are some of your major accomplishments as the Surgeon General?

Dr. Murthy: “Well, one of the things I am proud of is that we expanded the lens through which people understand health. For many years, people looked at health as primarily physical health. We expanded that notion to include mental, social, and spiritual dimensions of health.

Mental health: We spent a lot of time helping people understand that mental health is not only as important as physical health but, in fact, impacts our physical health as well.

Social health: Social health is the presence of healthy social relationships in your life. That has a profound impact on your mental and physical health, which is why our seminal Surgeon General’s Advisory on loneliness and isolation was so important and resonated very deeply with people.

Spirituality, the fourth dimension of health: I would have liked to highlight the spiritual dimension of health a bit more, to help lay out why this is an important part of our well-being, whether it comes from our faith, our family, the work we do in the world, or the role we play in people’s lives. 

I would also have liked to focus on the impact of ultraprocessed food on our health, the science around psilocybin, and the mental health impact of sports gambling.”

MT: What are some of the challenges you faced as the Surgeon General, and how did you overcome them? 

Dr. Murthy: “Prioritizing is one of the hardest things in the job. With limited time and resources, we chose to focus our efforts on health issues that were not being addressed and where there was little public awareness.

The other challenge in a job like this is navigating the many different stakeholders who are interested in our work. These include: 

  • agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services and other federal  departments;
  • members of Congress;
  • policymakers at local and national levels;
  • community groups;
  • faith organizations;
  • schools and universities;
  • hospitals; and 
  • businesses.

MT: What health advice do you have for the Indian Diaspora?

Dr. Murthy: “I’ve always believed that prevention is the best medicine. The five pillars for preventing diseases are (1) Sleep; (2) Social Connection; (3) Stress Reduction; (4) Nutrition; and (5) Physical Activity.

Sleep: We all need to get seven to nine hours of quality sleep, uninterrupted by the use of the phone.

Social connection: Having a few close friendships where we can share openly with others and participate in each other’s lives is at the heart of living a socially connected life. Many of us have friends, but we aren’t experiencing friendship because we aren’t seeing and talking to our friends. We need to make our friendships and families greater priorities in our lives. 

Stress reduction: We all need ways to reduce stress in our lives. Meditation can be a powerful tool to center our minds.  It can help us quiet the noise that is all around us and slow down in a world that’s moving faster and faster.” 

Nutrition: A few key things that we can do are minimizing ultra-processed foods in our diet and avoiding foods high in salt and sugar.

Physical activity: Walking and doing resistance exercises can collectively build endurance and strength. 

These five pillars can do a lot to help reduce our risk of cardiac disease, cancer, diabetes, and other illnesses. They can also improve how we feel.”