*EPF509 09/29/00
Text: Secretary Shalala at Pan American Health Organization
(Praises regional health successes, sets future goals) (1050)

Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala expressed praise for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in a speech to the PAHO Directing Council on September 25. Shalala listed the elimination of polio and smallpox in the Americas, more childhood immunizations, and decreased malnutrition, among the accomplishments of PAHO.

Similar success in the future, she said, would require increased cooperation between nations. "We are partners with a shared destiny," Shalala said. She identified new health goals including the eradication of malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS; developing a global health database; and "to escalate our global fight against the egregious death rate from tobacco."

Following is the Secretary's address.

(begin text)

SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES DONNA SHALALA

September 25, 2000

Thank you [Dr. Raphael Burgos] for that introduction.

Sir George Alleyne, Dr. Gro Brundtland, distinguished Ministers of Health, delegates, and esteemed guests, I am honored to be with you today at the 42nd Directing Council of the Pan American Health Organization.

And it's a distinct and great privilege to welcome you, once again, to Washington.

As you know, this is the last time that I will address you as Secretary of Health and Human Services because I will leave with President Clinton at the end of his term in January 2001.

So driving over today, I couldn't help but reflect on how gratifying my association with PAHO and the World Health Organization has been.

It has been a great privilege for me to work with Dr. Alleyne and Dr. Brundtland -- and I am deeply indebted to both for their wise counsel and visionary ideas for improving international public health.

Dr. Alleyne and Dr. Brundtland both know that every nation of our hemisphere has a unique contribution to make to improve the quality of human life.

They know that every nation is an indispensable member of the world team.

And they know that all of us stand on the shoulders of public health leaders who may not be with us today.... but who have worked throughout the last century to create a healthier world.

I'm talking about former PAHO directors like Dr. Carlyle Macedo (MA SAY DOE) of Brazil,... Dr. Hector Acuna (AH COON YA) of Mexico,... and Dr. Abraham Horowitz of Chile.

Or the former Director General of WHO, Dr. Halfdan Mahler, who helped create the Health for All initiative.

Like his predecessors, Dr. Alleyne has broadened the scope of good health in the Americas.

He has taken on public health challenges that once seemed difficult, if not impossible, to overcome.

For example, every year more than 200,000 children under five years of age needlessly die in the Americas from preventable, treatable illnesses.

PAHO is working to save these lives through simple, but timely public health interventions.

In Dr. Brundtland, not only do we have a world-renowned public health leader, we have a passionate warrior who is committed to protecting the world's children from tobacco.

Together -- they are saving millions of children from premature deaths.

I am reminded of the great Latin writer and master of magical realism, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who once described his most important problem as "destroying the line that separates what seems real from what seems fantastic."

That has been our challenge too -- to make the fantastic, real.

In 1985, who could have ever imagined that we would eradicate polio in the Americas?

Yet, less than ten years later, that's exactly what we accomplished.

This achievement is even more impressive when you consider that it was only the second time in history -- smallpox being the first -- that we stopped a disease dead in its tracks.

But the leap from dreams and fantasies to reality has been much greater than just our victories against smallpox and polio.

Today, throughout the Americas, childhood immunizations are up and malnutrition is down.

We have increased funding to combat the threat of HIV/AIDS in communities around the world.

We are moving toward the development of a framework convention for tobacco control.

More children, mothers and babies around the world are healthier than ever before because of WHO and PAHO.

But we know these accomplishments didn't happen by magic.

They happened because of hard work -- and a deeply held sense of mission by everyone in the public health community.

And we certainly cannot claim victory.

More important: We cannot quit now.

The fact is -- this new century brings with it many unsolved challenges.

We must recommit to build upon, and protect, the world's food safety net.

We must recommit to working with other nations on emerging international issues in diet and disease.

We must recommit to the great global campaign against infectious diseases -- especially malaria, TB, and HIV/AIDS.

We must recommit to stopping the global spread of antibiotic resistance.

We must recommit to developing a database for global health systems so that we know how to deal effectively with the major causes of death and disability.

And finally, we must recommit to escalate our global fight against the egregious death rate from tobacco use.

This isn't a job for any one nation among us. It's a job for all of us.

We are partners with a shared destiny.

And notwithstanding our political differences or demographic differences, our successes or failures in this new century will be determined by the strength of our partnership.

We must ensure that public health remains the cornerstone in the broader global policy dialogue -- whether it's economic development, global security, the environment, or education.

That is the end of my message -- but not quite the end of my remarks.

The point is this -- together we put public health on the international agenda.

Together we must keep it there.

We each bring something fantastic to the partnership.

But few issues can be fully resolved by working alone, that is, if we truly want to bring about good health for all.

As the American writer, Maya Angelou, once said, "If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities."

Thank you.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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