TO THE EDITOR:
As chair of the Department of Maternal and Child Health, I want to strongly challenge the comments of Jaslina Paintal in her Feb. 22 column in The Daily Tar Heel about Dr. Herbert B. Peterson, Kenan Distinguished Professor and former chair of our department. As is evident by his role as director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Research Evidence for Sexual and Reproductive Health and his instrumental role in the founding of the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute, he is a globally recognized and respected authority on family planning and reproductive health. His long career boasts a history of engaged, high quality scholarship and diverse practice activities.
Dr. Peterson is the recipient of numerous national and international honors acknowledging his expertise and his dedication to the health of women and children globally. Because of his expertise and stature, Dr. Peterson is regularly asked to serve in leadership roles in many organizations within and outside the United States that support the health of women and families. To my knowledge, Ms. Paintal’s comments are the first of this type in his illustrious career. To publicly impugn Dr. Peterson’s competence on the basis of unfounded misperceptions is not only completely inappropriate, but unethical.
Prof. Carolyn T. Halpern
Chairperson
Department of Maternal and Child Health
