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REMARKS BY:	DONNA E. SHALALA, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
PLACE:		Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 34th National Immunization Conference, 
		Washington, D.C.
DATE:		July 6, 2000

"Chance favors only the mind that is prepared."

In other words: Success is rarely about luck and almost always about hard work. Pasteur knew that - and so do you. You have spent years on the frontlines of America's most noble cause - wiping out diseases that still cast a shadow over our children.

Whether you spend your days in a lab searching for a better vaccine - or in a clinic keeping our children's shots up to date; whether you're creating educational material for parents - or pounding the pavement to spread the word about vaccines - each and every one of you are helping our children grow up healthy and strong.

Just consider in whose company you walk: The great Jonas Salk - who triumphed over polio exactly 45 years ago, or the heroes who eradicated smallpox two decades ago. You walk with them. You are them. So I thank you - for all that you do - and for your determination to do more.

I also want you to know that our administration proudly stands with you. In 1992, only 55 percent of children were being vaccinated.

Let me repeat that: 55 percent. Not much more than half. That's why -- shortly after taking office -- President Clinton announced that increasing immunizations - and saving children's lives - would be one of our first priorities.

Since then we've more than doubled the funding for CDC's immunization programs. We launched the President's Childhood Immunization Initiative - a ground breaking and comprehensive strategy to immunize our youngest and most vulnerable children. We cut the cost of vaccines to zero for many children of low-income families who are uninsured and made them available in doctors' offices as well as public clinics.

In addition, we cut a new deal with the states. Instead of giving them one-size-fits-all programs, we began helping them implement their own tailor-made action plans - so they could expand clinic hours, hire more staff, and find other new ways to vaccinate more children.

I've seen the results first-hand. I visited a Head Start center in Oakland that has locked arms with the County Health Department, Americorps and community volunteers to ensure that younger siblings are getting immunized -- on time.

Betty Bumpers and I have visited clinics all over D.C. to reach young parents and forge new partnerships with hospitals and daycare centers. Several states have HHS approved demonstration projects designed to come up with innovative ways to increase immunization rates now -- and sustain them into the future.

The search for new vaccines continues, and so does the search for children who have not been vaccinated. We're getting the word out every way we can: From baby food labels to fast food tray liners to supermarket receipts.

Perhaps most important, we've teamed up with outstanding leaders like Betty and Roslyn Carter - the guiding hands behind Every Child By Two. We've teamed up with the managed care industry because immunizations are good for both children and the bottom line. We've also teamed up with state and local government, schools, clinics, community organizations and families -- all to create effective immunization strategies that are locally tailored and locally driven.

What has been the result of all this hard work? Of your hard work? In 1999, the nation's childhood immunization rates were at record or near-record highs. The overall immunization rates for pre-school children remained at a record high of 80 percent.

Immunization rates for four vaccines, already at record highs, increased again from 1998 to 1999. And in just one year, the varicella vaccine - that's the new chicken pox vaccine - increased from 43 percent to nearly 60 percent.

This is a great record. But it's a record to build on - not rest on. The fact is: While we've made tremendous strides, we still have a lot of work ahead of us. Not one person in this room - for that matter, not one person in this country - should be satisfied until that 80 percent overall immunization rate I mentioned becomes nearly 100 percent.

That won't be easy. Not when 900,000 children in this country under the age of 2 still need at least some of their shots. Not when the 11,000 babies born each day will need 16 to 20 doses of vaccine before age two. And not when African American, Hispanic, Native American, Alaskan Native and Pacific Islander children still lag behind in immunizations.

To help close these gaps, we've formed partnerships with community leaders and popular figures such as Dr. Seuss, Jon Secada and CeCe Williams. We've launched various public awareness campaigns. And, we've awarded millions in grants through the REACH program - a project helping communities to address racial and ethnic health disparities.

Closing racial and ethnic disparities - without more - will not get us to the goal we set almost eight years ago - making sure every child is immunized and grows up healthy.

That's why we must do even more - including creating immunization registries that will help parents, schools and health care workers make sure that every child gets the full set of immunizations. I'm talking about confidential information systems used by providers to determine vaccine needs - as well as to help them remind parents and other caregivers when their child is due for a vaccine.

Since 1996, we've worked hard with many of you to make these registries a reality in all 50 states. Today, we're taking another step towards helping states create these systems.

We're contacting each state Medicaid director - encouraging them to use federal Medicaid dollars to support childhood immunization registries. We want to show them how Medicaid can provide up to 90 percent of states' costs for developing -- and up to 75 percent for operating -- childhood immunization registries on behalf of children on Medicaid. This will provide more than $100 million over the next few years for states that work with us to enact this common sense approach.

We recognize that privacy is a great concern. That's why we're working with states as partners - helping them to construct registries that are founded on the principles of confidentiality, security and accountability.

These registries help to streamline administrative tasks, improve inventory procedures, reduce vaccine waste and help avoid unnecessary vaccination. And a relatively small investment will pay the biggest possible dividend: Healthy children ready to grow into healthy adults. We hope to do more to improve the immunization infrastructure in the months ahead.

Our children will be the architects of America's future. They will design - and define - our greatness. So, let us leave here today stronger than ever, more committed than ever, more determined than ever to make good on the promises we've made to them and to each other. Let us celebrate our successes not by resting on our laurels, but with a renewed commitment to getting every child vaccinated.

There have been certain people who have been doing more than their share to make sure that we've kept our promise of a healthy future to our children. One of those people is Betty Bumpers.

From Arkansas to Washington to the far corners of the globe, she has been a guardian of children -- protecting them from polio, measles, rubella and other invisible enemies.

I like to tell people that when the President and Vice-President first came into office, some in Washington told us that improving childhood immunization rates in this country was a lost cause. Fortunately, we knew better - and had the experience of Dale and Betty Bumpers to inspire us.

They have both been leaders in childhood immunization for more than 25 years - and pioneered immunization programs in Arkansas that became models for states across the country.

Thanks to Betty's tireless advocacy, when President Clinton took office, we created our Childhood Immunization Initiative - and enlisted an army of partners and volunteers to help us.

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Betty and Dale. In fact, last year, HHS even named a building at the National Institutes of Health after them for all their work in the field of immunization - a building we're calling the Cape Canaveral of vaccine research.

Betty, from the Every Child by Two program to new innovations in outreach - you've been there for our children. Your tremendous commitment to the healthy future of our children is without parallel. For all that you've done for our nation and our future, I thank you. And, I present to you this "Champion of Prevention Award."

Thank you.