Washington:An Indian-origin Dr. Vivek Hallegere Murthy will be the next US Surgeon General. White House announced the proposal on thursday. The surgeon general serves a four-year term .Dr. Murthy, if confirmed by the Senate will be the youngest to serve the post.He replaces Regina Benjamin, who was appointed by Obama in 2009 and left her post in july.

Murthy is the co-founder and president of a Washington, based Doctors for America a group of 16,000 physicians and medical students that advocates for access to affordable, high quality health care and has been a strong supporter of the Affordable Care Actproposed by Obama.

“I am confident that these outstanding individuals will greatly serve the American people in their new roles and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come,” Mr. Obama said in a statement.The move has been welcomed by the influential Indian-American physician community.In 2011, Dr. Murthy was appointed as a member of the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion and Integrative and Public Health.He has been the co-founder and chairman of the board of TrialNetworks, formerly known as Epernicus, since 2007.Dr. Murthy also co-founded Visions Worldwide in 1995, a non-profit organisation focused on HIV/AIDS education in India and the US, where he served as president from 1995 to 2000 and chairman of the board from 2000 to 2003.

He received a B.A from Harvard University, an MBA from Yale School of Management, and MD from Yale School of Medicine.Hailing the announcement made by Mr. Obama, Jayesh B Shah, president of the influential American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) said that Obama has made the right choice.