Humanitarian Physician Paul Farmer Dies Suddenly at 62

Humanitarian physician Paul Farmer, who fought epidemics around the world, unexpectedly died in his sleep in Rwanda on Monday. He was 62. Tributes for the founder of Partners in Health poured in from shocked public health officials. “There are so many people that are alive because of that man,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told The New York Times. Farmer was a Harvard graduate, the subject of a documentary, winner of the $1 million Berggruen Prize, and author of 12 books, but was widely seen as a humble and selfless advocate for those suffering around the world.