Principled Professionalism: The American Face of Public Health, Dr. Mohammad Akhter

MOHAMMAD AKHTER, MD, MPH, has been leading the movement for the health empowerment of the American public. As executive director of the American Public Health Association (APHA), he has been instrumental in informing the nation about the need for cohesion and cooperation between public and private agencies, medical and public health communities, professional institutions and the public they exist to serve. Akhter’s journey appears to be the epitome of the American dream. Beneath the surface lies a strength of character, a passionate commitment to public service, and a genuine love for the people he serves, which has pushed him not only to reach individual heights, but to carry countless others with him. Akhter was born into a family of farmers in India shortly before the partition that established India and Pakistan as 2 separate nations. “I come from a poor background,” says Akhter. “Life expectancy was 40 years. Through the process of partition we became refugees.” When he was 3 years old, Akhter and his 6-month-old sister were separated from the family by the political upheaval. “The family learned that the possessions we have are all very vulnerable, but education is something that always pays dividends. My mother had an eighth-grade education, so she was able to find a job. She said, ‘Let’s send the children to school.’” “My grandfather couldn’t write his name, but my mother’s 6 children all have master’s degrees and the cycle of poverty is broken. Health and education are twin lights leading you away from poverty. When my parents died they were upper-middleclass people in Pakistan. Not only is my success important, but family success, all of our success is important. It’s very different from here, where we all separate.” Akhter carries that lesson with him in all of his work: as a medical missionary, an educator, a physician, a health commissioner, and a public health leader. Akhter’s missionary zeal is as evident in the work he does as is his deeply loving spiritual base. He returned to Pakistan in 1987 as a medical missionary and stayed on for 2 more years as dean of the Center for Public Health in Lahore. “The Lord has a way of preparing people for doing things,” says Akhter. “When I was in Pakistan we had no idea what the future of our work would be. We did our thing. Then the Persian Gulf War broke out and they asked us to leave. After I arrived back in the United States, I became the