"Dr. Paul Farmer died unexpectedly today in his sleep," said the humanitarian NGO Partners in Health, which he co-founded in the late 1980s to provide treatment to people in the countries. poor.
Professor at Harvard, anthropologist and specialist in infectious diseases, he notably co-piloted the efforts of the United Nations in Haiti at the time of the catastrophic earthquake of 2010.
In 2012, Ban Ki-moon, then secretary-general of the United Nations, appointed him special adviser to fight an epidemic of cholera in the Caribbean country that UN peacekeepers are suspected of having spread.
The director of the United States aid agency, Samantha Power, described his death as "devastating".
"Paul gave everything to others, everything," she said, hailing a "giant", "generous" and "brilliant".
Paul Farmer was also very well known for his years spent in Africa, during which he had made the fight against Ebola one of his main battles.
Advocating for "quality care" in West Africa, he had shown himself in videos calling for donations alongside American stars like Jennifer Lawrence or Julianne Moore.
"If you had the chance to know him, your life would be changed, for the better," assured American actor Edward Norton, known for his investment in social entrepreneurship.
In Rwanda, Paul Farmer worked to found a university aimed at addressing the lack of health professionals in Africa.
She called his death "an unimaginable disaster".
Paul Farmer was married and had three children.
© 2022 AFP