Frieden to the CDC

PRESIDENT Barack Obama tapped a public-health doctor with the correct set of values to head the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the health commissioner for New York City, is admired in the public-health community for tackling unhealthy habits behind diseases, including smoking, obesity and poor diet. Health-care cost savings and a healthier public are among the benefits from large-scale disease-prevention efforts such as those championed by Frieden.

He led a campaign to ban smoking in restaurants and bars. He boosted the number of New Yorkers getting HIV tests and supported a program that distributes more than 35 million free condoms a year.

Frieden's actions are welcome. His CDC office should become the bully pulpit to focus attention and efforts on HIV, which is spreading among minorities, gay and bisexual men and many women.

His experience will be critical in dealing with one of the most-pressing issues facing the CDC, managing the swine-flu outbreak, including deciding whether or how to produce a swine-flu vaccine.

The federal health agency reports more than 5,000 people in the U.S. have confirmed or probable cases of the swine flu. At last report, there have been six deaths. Balancing the spread of the virus with its low fatality rate will be part of the challenge.

Frieden is not an outsider needing time to learn the ropes. He was a CDC epidemiologist for 12 years. This is the right time for Frieden's smart perspective and strong experience on public health.