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REMARKS BY: TOMMY G. THOMPSON, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES PLACE: World Health Organization, General Assembly, Geneva Switzerland DATE: May 15, 2001
Mr. President, Madam Director General and distinguished delegates, I am honored to lead the U.S. delegation to this assembly. It is my first assembly in my capacity as Secretary of Health and Human Services for the United States. President George W. Bush has asked me to reaffirm to you our commitment to the WHO and to offer his best wishes for a successful conference.
Together, health professionals from around the world have eradicated smallpox, eliminated polio in many regions and improved the lives of countless infants and children through better nutrition and better prenatal care.
But we continue to face the challenge of serious medical problems. Our is a daunting task, rooted in moral obligation, informed by history and animated by an awareness of our shared humanity. All nations have a stake as partners in a common battle.
Yet too often, our partnerships have been disconnected and incomplete. They must be so no longer. Working together is not a platitude. It is an imperative.
Shared problems require shared solutions. I am here today to listen, to better understand our common concerns and offer President Bush's commitment to finding solutions. While the Bush Administration is still quite new, we have made important decisions on several global health priorities. Let me list a few-
We will provide an additional $200 million next year in the global effort to address HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, in addition to the more than $450 million already committed. These funds will supply important research and health programs, prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV and provide care to infected individuals in many of the most affected nations.
I am also pleased to announce publication of "The Clinical Guide for the Care of Women with HIV," which is believed to be the first manual of its kind. Produced by my department with wise counsel from around the world, it offers authoritative guidelines for those treating women with HIV.
We are providing our National Institutes of Health with $2.5 billion for HIV/AIDS research, including $357 million to find a vaccine. Funding for our National Institutes of Health HIV programs will increase dramatically this year. And we are focusing intently on an effective prevention regime.
We continue our strong commitment to eradicate polio. Dozens of our Centers for Disease Control and Prevention professionals are working in the endemic countries and at WHO headquarters to attack this problem. We all need to stay focused to ensure that polio disappears by 2005. Loss of momentum would be tragic.
Our National Institutes of Health will soon offer an international tobacco control research program, cosponsored with WHO, to identify the best practices in reducing first-time smoking worldwide, especially among children and adolescents. And we must work together to achieve a convention on tobacco control that the majority of the member states can sign and ratify.
This morning, we addressed mental health issues through our Roundtables. The World Health Report, which will be released later this year, will provide needed information to enable us all to do more and do better. I compliment everyone at WHO on their hard work and leadership. This is a tremendously important initiative.
Dr. Brundtland, the United States applauds your strong leadership. I look forward to working with you and with my colleagues at this Assembly more closely in the future.
Let us not fail to remember that beyond the numbers and the statistics, our true focus is the healing of bodies, the mending of hearts and the restoration of lives. There can be few more noble callings nor many more urgent needs. Thank you very much.
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