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REMARKS BY:	DONNA E. SHALALA, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
PLACE:		NIH Meeting on Vaccine Development, Bethesda, Maryland
DATE:		May 22, 2000

Creating Vaccine Partnerships

It's always a pleasure for me to come to NIH, one of the world's pre-eminent centers for science-and I'm happy to join all of you today in this landmark effort to help developing nations break the bonds of infectious disease. Before we turn our attention to the future-perhaps we should stop and remember the past. Exactly 45 years ago, Jonas Salk's polio vaccine was approved by the United States'government. It promised the world's children a future where their bodies and spirits could soar. Today, we stand ready to write the final chapter on polio.to consign it to the history books where it can never again threaten a single child-or trouble a single nation.

Worldwide polio eradication has been a great success for one, fundamental, reason: Governments, world health organizations, industry, academia, scientists and researchers worked together in a global, public- private partnership. That must be our model. We need that kind of public-private partnership-that kind of commitment-if we're to meet President Clinton's challenge to develop and deliver vaccines for HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB to developing countries. Creating and strengthening public-private vaccine partnerships is the challenge that brings us here today. That is our goal. That is our charge.

Keep in mind, these diseases kill more than 5 million people around the world every year, and they undermine the ability of developing countries to pull themselves out of poverty-because so many working adults are affected. Every nation, community and organization has a stake in this vaccine work, because infectious diseases recognize no national border or-in the words of the Indian poet Tagore-"no narrow domestic walls." They spare no community or family. Since we all share in the problem, all of us- industry, academia, and government-must share in the solution.

That's why the President asked me to convene this meeting to identify barriers to vaccine development by the private sector. That's why the Clinton-Gore Administration increased NIH funding for vaccine research and development by 65 percent from 1993 to 1999. That's why we've requested over two billion dollars this year for AIDS related research at NIH. That's also why the United States is a partner in the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization.

And that's why the President announced his Millennium Vaccine Initiative in this year's State of the Union Address. As part of this initiative, our Fiscal Year 2001 budget for NIH includes a sharp increase for AIDS, malaria and TB vaccine research-and 50 million dollars for vaccine purchases by the Global Fund for Children's Vaccines. The centerpiece of the Initiative is a ten year, one billion dollar tax credit for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to accelerate vaccine development. Every dollar that a qualifying non-profit spends to purchase a new vaccine would be matched by a dollar of tax credits for the developer of the vaccine. By doubling the purchasing power of non-profits, this tax credit will significantly expand the market for new vaccines. It will provide a powerful incentive for vaccine development. And it will help move new vaccines out of the halls of science and into the hands of those who need them.

That's the crux of a successful public-private partnership and it recognizes a fundamental truth: Despite the best efforts of government and academia, a vaccine may not be able to prevent a single illness.or protect a single child.unless the private sector helps move it off the laboratory shelf. That's why we applaud the four largest vaccine manufacturers-Merck, American Home Products, Glaxo SmithKline Beecham, and Aventis Pharma-for donating more than 150 million dollars worth of state-of-the-art vaccine to the developing world-and for renewing their commitment to accelerate research and development on HIV/AIDS and malaria vaccines. And that's why we applaud the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative- which the President has called a model public-private partnership.

These are significant accomplishments.accomplishments that will help more members of our global family not only survive-but thrive. But we still need to do more. Notice I said "we." When it comes to developing and delivering vaccines-as we saw with polio eradication-government can't do it alone-and we need the active participation of the private sector. We must all continue to invest in vaccine research and development. We must find new ways to coordinate.to collaborate.and to construct partnerships. We must ensure that preventive vaccines are available, affordable and effective everywhere-especially in developing nations which bear the greatest burden of infectious disease. Above all, we must find creative ways to join public sector science and skills with private sector product development, manufacturing and marketing. Let's pit our collective wits and wills to our task and-as partners-help provide HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB vaccines for developing countries.

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