This is an archive page.  The links are no longer being updated.

REMARKS BY:	DONNA E. SHALALA, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
PLACE:		"Ambos Nogales-Both Nogales"  Mexico Immunization Week                        
                Nogales,Sonora, Mexico
DATE:		October 24, 1998

It's a real pleasure to be here. I much prefer the desert heat to the political heat in Washington. This is my first time visiting the Mexican side of the Sonoran Desert. It's just as beautiful, serene and magical on either side. It's perfect evidence that our ties are more timeless and transcendent than any geographic border.

That's why we are here, celebrating "Ambos Nogales" - both Nogales. During my last five years as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, I've had the opportunity to travel around the world. I've tried to share with our global neighbors both near and far, the message about protecting our health and preventing illness. I'm always reminded that diseases respect no borders. Disease doesn't distinguish between rich and poor. Disease doesn't see the differences between African or Asian, North American or Latin American. And neither do the prevention, cures and treatment.

So we, too, must look past the tired old categories of "we" and "you" and think about public health in terms of "nosotros" -- "us" and how we can work together.

Nowhere is this message more obvious and true than right here: As we celebrate the sister cities of Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora, it's clear that we share more than just a name, and more than just a border. We share a culture. We share a history. And we share a future.

The future of both of our countries and of "Ambos Nogales" is our children. There is nothing more tragic than a child's death or disability - especially one that can be prevented. That's why the most important thing we can do to protect them and to safeguard our future is to give children their best shot at good health - their vaccinations.

In my country, the Clinton-Gore Administration has made raising childhood immunization a top priority from the start. We saw a disturbing gap in the rate of immunization among children in our country. So we launched a concentrated effort to improve the quantity and quality of vaccines, reduce the costs, identify children not receiving their vaccinations and reach them. As a result, childhood immunization rates have reached an all-time high, and, preventable childhood diseases are now at record lows. Now the focus in my country is to make sure we reach all African-American and Latino children whose overall immunization rates lag behind White children.

We are going to reach these children wherever they live - across every region, every state, every community - and even across national borders.

The great Mexican poet and Nobel Laureate Octavio Paz once said "The past has left us orphans, and we must join together to invent our common future." To invent our common future, to reach across the border, my colleague Secretary de la Fuente and I reached across the table, shook hands and promised to work together -- to immunize our children of the border area where the need is great and the population is in constant flux.

Through our binational Health Working Group we're collaborating on a number of new projects: We are harmonizing our surveillance, lab testing and vaccination coverage. And, we are linking up our state immunization programs on both sides of the border.

I've also been quite impressed with the efforts of the local communities. The Sonoran and Arizonan Health Departments for example, have joined forces to create a Public Health Office here in Nogales. It's a model of cooperation and commitment for all of our border projects.

But, we need to do more. More sharing of resources and expertise, more resolve to continue to work together, more efforts "sin fronteras" - without borders. And, ultimately, more immunized children, year after year.

I'm reminded of a native of the Sonoran desert, from Yuma, Arizona, who became a heroic figure in the United States not only for the Mexican Americans he spoke for, but for all working men and women and the cause of justice and equality. I'm talking about the great American farm labor leader, Cesar Chavez.

I want to leave you with some of Mr. Chavez' words. He was fond of quoting an old Mexican saying, "Querer es poder." Which roughly translated in English means "If you have the will to do it, you have the ability to do it."

That's definitely true today. We have the will, we have the opportunity and we have the ability to vaccinate all our children in both of our countries. And, our commitment should never waiver until we meet that goal.

Thank you. Muchas gracias.