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	U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

REMARKS BY:	TOMMY G. THOMPSON, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
PLACE:	Opening Session, 26th Pan American Sanitary Conference, Pan American Health Organization, Washington, D.C.
DATE:	September 23, 2002

First of all, let me thank you, Dr. Gonzalez, for your leadership of this Organization as President, and you, David Brandling-Bennett, for your great work as Deputy Director of PAHO. Sir George, it is always a privilege and a pleasure to be with you and to be able to thank you once again for the great job you have done in leading this wonderful Organization. Your welcoming remarks this morning were very well thought out. Dr. Brundtland, thank you also for coming. It is always a privilege to be with you and have the opportunity to discuss health issues with you. You have done a tremendous job as head of WHO. It is always a pleasure when you bring my friend from Madison, Dr. Tom Loftus, with you: it is always good to see Tom, and again, I thank you very much.

All of you, honorable Ministers of Health, distinguished members, delegations, colleagues and friends, welcome to the United States, welcome to Washington, D.C. On behalf of President George W. Bush, let me take this opportunity to welcome you to the 26th Pan American sanitary conference and to the capital of the United States, the City of Washington, D.C.

It was 100 years ago that a hero of mine, President Teddy Roosevelt, came to this Organization and welcomed PAHO to this great city. Then, the issues facing our hemisphere were diseases like yellow fever and malaria.

In large measure, we have conquered those diseases, or at least found some cures for them, but now we are struggling with new diseases, new threats, new challenges.

For my country, one of the greatest of those challenges over the past year has been international terrorism. I discussed this with all of you last year when I addressed this August body, and I thank you, the members of delegations, and the constituencies in your countries, who stood with us, giving us your prayers, your support and above all your friendship as we have dealt with our loss and our pain for the past 12 months.

My country was struck by ruthless enemies. In the name of security, justice and freedom, we struck back. And we will continue carrying the battle to our adversaries until victory is assured and international terrorism is abated.

The reality of war has introduced a brand new dynamic in American lives. But one of the constants of our public policy is our dedication to joining with all of you as we address issues of regional concern.

After all, ladies and gentlemen, the region of the Americas, both North and South, is our mutual neighborhood. As good neighbors, we need to regularly renew relationships and friendships and share our perspectives on issues of common interest and need. And, over the past 12 months, the governments of our nations have rededicated our leadership, expertise, and resources to the full range of issues important to us regionally and globally.

Several of these issues come to mind immediately.

• First, the focus of investments in health and education at the International Conference on Financing for Development, held in Monterrey, Mexico from March 18-22, 2001;

• Second, the critical role of parents and families in the health, development and well-being of children, which the United States highlighted at the UN General Assembly Special Session on Children, held in May 2002, where I had the privilege to meet some of you and discuss with you how we can further our agenda in promoting good health conditions for all of our children;

• Third, using the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to provide innovative ways of fighting these diseases;

• Fourth, President Bush's, and my Department's, initiative to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission.

• And finally, an issue that I wanted to raise this morning and that I hope we will discuss through the course of the meetings: I believe that PAHO should have an annual meeting in the Caribbean dealing directly with HIV/AIDS. We had a very positive and constructive meeting, in Guyana last year, but I believe passionately that we can do a lot more. PAHO can lead this effort. The Caribbean is our second great hotspot for HIV/AIDS transmission and infection, and I believe it is our mission to do more to curtail, reduce, and eliminate this scourge in our region. I therefore call upon all of you in PAHO to set aside some time this coming spring so that we can go back to the Caribbean, to discuss how we can do a better job and use our resources more effectively to help all the countries and all the people in this region to fight this terrible disease.

Through collaboration and joint commitment, we in the Americas can learn from each other and evaluate our progress.

The Pan American Sanitary conference provides us with another opportunity to renew our partnership on important public health issues, including the one that I think is the most prevalent and most dominant right now for all of us, and that is HIV/AIDS; but also chronic diseases, women's health, immunizations, and how to create better health conditions for children.

At this conference, we are also commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Pan-American Health Organization. I believe we can redirect, reenergize, and reignite PAHO's commitment to better health conditions for the region. PAHO has been, and remains, my country's steadfast partner in advancing science and improving public health. I believe we are all very grateful-I know I am-for all PAHO has done to improve the health and well-being of everyone in our hemisphere.

In particular, over the last eight years, we have been led by a dynamic individual, Sir George Alleyne, who has brought a new level of quality and integration to PAHO's technical cooperation. I would like personally to thank you, Sir George, and your staff for your commitment to all of the Americas. Sir George, you have helped to make a difference in the lives of so very many individuals. I know you have done a lot for me and for my Department, and I applaud and thank you.

I also want to recognize the great talents and abilities of Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director General of the World Health Organization. Under Dr. Brundtland's leadership, public health issues have become an intrinsic part of the international policy agenda. Dr. Brundtland recently announced, despite our objections, that she will not seek a second term. Dr. Brundtland, your expertise, your passion, your compassion, and above all your energy will be sorely missed.

My friends, our region has achieved a great deal in improving the quality of life for our citizens. We can be particularly proud of the cooperation that has become essential in the way many public health challenges in North and South America are addressed. Joint action is imperative as we work to ensure that our overall accomplishments are greater than the sum of activities in our individual countries.

Thus it is vital that member states, all of us, be actively consulted and involved to ensure policy actions are embraced and sustained at the country level. The election of a new director is particularly important in that regard. A new vision and new ideas are, of course, essential in a new director, but it is also vital to continue to expand the vital coordinating role that PAHO has played for the past 100 years.

I believe that we have the opportunity, ladies and gentlemen, to expand the scope, the abilities, the need and the responsibilities of PAHO in the coming years. And I believe that this meeting, this 100th anniversary, gives us many opportunities to accomplish that. This session of the conference also gives us the opportunity to guide the Pan American Health Organization, because here we can reflect on our collective commitment to improving the health of our people and preserving the dignity of human life.

PAHO exists because our nations affirm that human dignity - the value of every individual person - is the unique inheritance of every individual, whatever his or her income, heritage, ethnicity, race, religion or political allegiance.

One of my country's greatest statesmen, Alexander Hamilton, affirmed this principle in an article he wrote in 1775. As he put it then, and I quote, "The sacred rights of mankind … are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the Divinity itself, and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power."

In other words, every life is sacred. Every person has innate, God-given value. No one is unimportant, insignificant, or forgettable.

That's why all of us are here. Because every citizen of every nation represented here deserves a government that is committed to fighting and, ultimately, eradicating threats to the public health.

And that is why I believe we, as delegates and ministers to this wonderful organization, have a tremendous opportunity over the course of the next few days to be able to give it some more direction, more opportunities to represent this hemisphere better in the future. We have a chance to build on the successes Sir George has given us, for the next hundred years, starting today. We have an opportunity to expand and excel in providing good quality health to every individual in our hemisphere.

It is in that effort that the President of the United States and I stand proudly with you today. We welcome you to this city, we thank you for coming, but more than that, I thank you for your passion and dedication to providing quality health for all of your citizens. May God bless you all, and thank you for giving me this opportunity.