In his first all-staff meeting as director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Robert Redfield, MD, predicted the U.S. could end the AIDS epidemic with tools already available. He also committed the agency’s policies to be rooted in scientific evidence. 

As reported by STAT, Redfield’s bold AIDS prediction is “possible” with existing resources like condoms and broader use of available antiviral drugs.

“I think it could be done in the next three to seven years, if we put our mind to it,” he said at the agency’s main Atlanta campus on March 28.

Redfield has spent decades researching AIDS, including some controversial positions which earned him criticism from Democrats when he was rumored to be the new pick to run the CDC. He was a principal investigator on an experimental AIDS vaccine and was accused of misrepresenting data on the treatment’s effectiveness. He also once advocated for segregating HIV-positive members of the military and mandating HIV testing during physical exams and hospitalizations.

During the talk, where Redfield answered a pre-screened set of questions from CDC employees, he mentioned he’s a strong supporter of vaccines and stressed the importance of basing CDC policy on scientific evidence—something which his predecessor’s critics doubted when it was reported the agency had “banned” certain words from budget documents.

“We’re not an opinion organization. We’re a science-based, data-driven organization. That’s why CDC has the credibility around the world that it has,” Redfield said.

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