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    "label": "Remarks by Oveta Culp Hobby, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Given at a Conference on the Salk Polio Vaccine",
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    "title": "Remarks by Oveta Culp Hobby, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Given at a Conference on the Salk Polio Vaccine",
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    "ocrText": "Remarks at Conference on Salk Vaccine\nApril 22, 1955\nBy: Oveta Culp Hobby\nDwight Librey D.\n941\nREMARKS*\nATTACHMENT D\nBy\nOveta Culp Hobby\nSecretary of Health, Education, and Welfare\nThank you. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the President and of\nall the people whom your government serves, I welcome you to this meeting\nand thank you for coming here today.\nOur mission is an important one, and although the problem which we\nhope to help solve is exceedingly complex, our role can be stated very\nsimply. We are gathered here at the request of the President to seek out\nand consider all the available data with respect to the availability of the\nSalk vaccine. This technical information is essential to the report the\nPresident has directed that I make to him.\nThe ultimate purpose all of us have, of course, is to confer the\ngreatest good on the greatest number of people to whom polio presents the\ngreatest threat.\nin 1481MO Library ly\nThe announcement of the successful tests of the vaccine was made\non April 12, and on April 14 the President directed his request for a study.\nIn the brief space of the days that have passed, signs of considerable.\nfusion, misunderstanding and anxiety exist concerning the availability,\nthe distribution of the new vaccine. I am sure all of us would agree to\nthat extent that all of us can contribute to minimizing the confusion we\nwill be performing a public service, and an important public service.\nRepresented here today are the medical and public health profes-\nsions, the pharmaceutical and drug industries and many other groups con-\ncerned with the problem.\nI am happy to welcome all of you. I know you will understand when I\nextend a particularly warm welcome to the National Foundation for Infantile\n*At Conference on Salk Vaccine, April 22, 1955\n- 2 -\nParalysis. The success of the Foundation and its president, Mr. Basil\nO'Connor, in maintaining public interest over the years and in providing\nfinancial support for an intensive, persistent and diversified research\nprogram is an inspiring case history of democracy in action.\nThe discovery of the Salk vaccine is a story of millions of Ameri-\ncans giving freely of their dimes and dollars in a great cause. It is a\nstory of dedicated and painstaking effort by many thousands of scientists,\nof an historical and brilliant achievement by one of them, Dr. Jonas Salk.\nThis meeting would not have been possible without the magnificent\nwork of Dr. Thomas Francis Jr., and his group who conducted the mass test\nlast year, nor of the pioneering efforts of such men as Dr. John Enders,\nof Harvard and Dr. David Bodian of Johns Hopkins. And this meeting could\nnot go forward without the leaders from America's great pharmaceutical and\nbiological products industry who are present. Their faith in the vaccine\nprior to the final knowledge of its efficacy and their willingness to\nundertake production on a large scale in the hope that lives might be saved\nthis year instead of next is a stirring example of vision and courage.\nIt is our hope that you are prepared to present essential facts and\nrecommendations which you have developed by reason of your specialized\nqualifications and viewpoints. Here are the essential facts as we see\nthem.\nDwight\nThe\nAfter many years of patient, dedicated investigation by many indi-\nviduals and groups, a safe and effective vaccine against poliomyelitis has\nbeen developed by Dr. Salk. The proof and efficacy of the vaccine's\nsafety was not at hand until ten days ago.\nIn the hope that the age-old annual toll of young lives and limbs\nmight be reduced, if not completely checked this year, the National\nFoundation for Infantile Paralysis and several leading manufacturers of\n- 3 -\nvaccine invested large sums of money to insure that sizeable amounts of\nthe vaccine would be available before the full impact of this year's polio\nseason was felt.\nThe dramatic publicity accompanying the report of the vaccine's\nefficacy has aroused an enormous amount of public interest.\nThe supply of vaccine on hand now or likely to become available\nduring the next few months is far short of the needs and demands. The\ntheory exists in some quarters that sizeable amounts of vaccine may appear\nin black markets, that prices may rise beyond reason, and that, as a\nconsequence, many individuals in the most susceptible age groups will not\nreceive the preventive. Concern over these possibilities has been ex-\npressed by individual members of the Congress, and legislation has already\nbeen proposed which would require that the Federal Government supervise\ndistribution of the vaccine.\nThese, as I have said, are the basic facts.\nWithout attempting to suggest a formal agenda, may I say that in\nmy opinion there are two major questions which require the most careful\nkind of study.\nFirst and foremost is the question of supply. I think it is fair\nto say that very great misapprehension exists at the present time concern-\ning this central fact how soon, within the understandable limits of\nproductive capacity, will there be sufficient supplies of vaccine to take\ncare of the children of America. Second, there is the question of distribu-\ntion -- what steps are necessary to assure that vaccine on hand goes first\nto the most susceptible age groups in the population.\nWe know that we can expect all pertinent data from this group with\nEsenhower Labrary\nrespect to the first question, and your thoughtful consideration in an\nattempt to find the answer to the second one.\n- 4 -\nBefore introducing your chairman, may I mention one more important\nfact concerning this conference. It has been called, as you know, at the\ndirection of the President, and will provide essential data upon which I\nshall be making our report to him. The report will go forward as quickly\nas possible.\nIt is the Department's intention, as early as possible, to provide\nthe press with appropriate background material. Release to the press and\nthus to the public of the conclusions which we are able to reach and the\nrecommendations themselves will follow in due, and I am sure the earliest,\ncourse.\nGentlemen, I need not remind you that the American people expect\ngreat results from this meeting. Your responsibility is indeed a very\nheavy one. It rests on all of us who have special knowledge with respect\nto this tremendous instrument of good for mankind. Most particularly,\nall of us share in a grave concern about the production and the orderly\nprocedures of distribution. They represent a challenge which I have\nevery belief we can meet and move towards mastering here today.\nNow I should like to introduce to you your chairman, although\nfor most of you this introduction is superfluous. You know him as a\ndistinguished physician, as an educator, and as one who is familiar\nEssanhower\nnot only with the medical aspects of our problem, but also with the\nD.\n1481M\nproblem of distribution of new and scarce drugs.\nLadies and gentlemen, I present your chairman, Dr. Chester S.\nKeefer."
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