Influential surgeon general C. Everett Koop that led high-profile campaigns of highlighting the dangers of smoking and AIDS prevention died at 96 in New Hampshire.

The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth stated in Koop died at his home in Hanover, New Hampshire yesterday. The cause of death was not provided.

Koop an evangelical Christian served under President Ronald Reagan and angered conservative supporters when he set aside his religious belief to endorse condoms and sex education.

"I am the surgeon general of the heterosexuals and the homosexuals, of the young and the old, of the moral or the immoral, the married and the unmarried," Koop told the Washington Post. "I don't have the luxury of deciding which side I want to be on. So I can tell you how to keep yourself alive no matter what you are. That's my job."

A former pipe smoker, Koop carried out a crusade to end smoking in the United States, his goal was to achieve this by 2000. He said cigarettes were as addictive as heroin and cocaine.

"A lot of people don't realize what an important role he played in the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. At the time, he really changed the national conversation, and he showed real courage in pursuing the duties of his job," said Chris Collins, a vice president of amFAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research.

Even after stepping out of office in 1989, Koop continued to promote public health causes, from preventing childhood accidents to better training for doctors.

"I will use the written word, the spoken word and whatever I can in the electronic media to deliver health messages to this country as long as people will listen," he promised.