Like other conflict-affected regions, Africa continues to see religious, ethnic, and politically motivated conflicts. Extremist violence is now entrenched in several parts of the world. Armed conflicts are leading to protracted refugee crises to the scale that has not been seen since World War II.

Working together with our exceptional leadership team, our Ministry of Health was empowered to make smart investments that could unlock our potential by producing long-lasting health and economic benefits for all.

I believe UNAIDS' provocative leadership has been critical in addressing the AIDS epidemic and converting it from a death sentence to a chronic health condition.

Early in my career, I was galvanized by a disease that ravaged my country and many others around the world: malaria.

I would not outlaw or eliminate private health insurance. But if we do a good enough job, with a robust public option, there really should not be as much of a need for private insurance in the market.

I'm 33 now and I seem to have hit a fitness plane. Shifting the wobbly bits isn't as easy as it used to be.

And so our goal on health care is, if we can get, instead of health care costs going up 6 percent a year, it's going up at the level of inflation, maybe just slightly above inflation, we've made huge progress. And by the way, that is the single most important thing we could do in terms of reducing our deficit. That's why we did it.

Every other guitar player was just copying other guitarists. From the time I was 13 up until 18, I practiced at least eight hours a day, every day. My health suffered for it - I was losing sleep and not eating properly.