[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 144 (Thursday, October 6, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 6, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                   POLIO ELIMINATED FROM THE AMERICAS

                                 ______


                          HON. BILL RICHARDSON

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, October 5, 1994

  Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, today brings us one of those rare 
moments when we can celebrate a very special human achievement and 
reflect, with pride, on the role the Congress played in making it 
possible. Today at the Pan American Health Organization, here in 
Washington, a formal declaration is being made that the Americas, from 
Alaska to Argentina, are free of polio.
  Only a few short years ago the entire world was declared free of 
smallpox. That scourge was eliminated first here in the Western 
Hemisphere. It is the hope and expectation of the World Health 
Organization that polio can be eliminated throughout the world by the 
year 2000.
  Mr. Speaker, this magnificent achievement represents what can be 
accomplished with vision, leadership, and dedication. Building on the 
historic discoveries of polio vaccines, further research succeeded in 
making these vaccines stable in conditions of arctic cold and tropical 
heat. Congress, and especially the efforts of Senator Edward Kennedy, 
of David Obey, our colleague from Wisconsin who now chairs the 
Appropriations Committee, and of Chairman John Dingell, were key in 
getting funding for AID to support this critical research. It was the 
success of those efforts to have vaccines that could be successfully 
administered to people living in the remotest areas of two vast 
continents that made possible the very idea that polio could be 
eradicated, not just reduced.
  Having the right vaccine was critical to success but that was only 
one part of the story. Implementing a strategy to eliminate polio in 
the Americas required unprecedented collaboration among numerous 
international organizations, national governments, non-governmental 
organizations, and millions of citizens. It also required resources. 
The total costs for eliminating polio are estimated at around $540 
million, a small fraction of the costs this dreaded disease would incur 
medical care for polio's victims. But no financial estimate can account 
for the real costs this disease wrought in the pain and suffering of 
the victims and the anguish of their friends and families.
  This is an achievement dependent on the efforts of so many, including 
our own taxpayers. There is not time to mention all those whose 
contributions deserve our applause. First, of course, is Albert Sabin 
whose achievements, along with Jonas Salk, made possible the 
eradication of polio. The roles of the Pan American Health 
Organization, the World Health Organization UNICEF, and our own U.S. 
Agency for International Development were key as were the efforts of 
the peoples and governments of every nation in the hemisphere. Also 
playing important roles were Rotary International, the Inter-American 
Development Bank, and the Canadian Public Health Association. To all 
those who played a part in this achievement, large and small, go our 
thanks and appreciation.

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