[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 55 (Tuesday, April 27, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4426-S4427]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SALK POLIO VACCINE FIELD TRIALS

  Mr. ALLEN. Mr. President, I have always been one to support 
innovation. It is with the innovative researchers of this Nation and 
the world that have provided us with some of the greatest contributions 
in history. Inventions such as the computer, the Internet, the 
automobile, the airplane, and vaccines have transformed the world as we 
once knew it, to the world that we live in now.
  I would like to take a moment and recognize yesterday's event 
commemorating April 26, 2004, as the 50th Anniversary of the Salk polio 
vaccine field trials, a truly significant day for our Nation.
  On April 26, the March of Dimes and the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention, commemorated the 50th anniversary of the development of 
the Salk polio vaccine along with several other organizations. This day 
in April holds great significance for the nation as it was that day in 
1954 that the first dose of the Salk vaccine was distributed to 
children at Franklin Sherman Elementary school in McLean, VA as part of 
the National Field Trial Program. In the months that followed, more 
than 1,800,000 school children, collectively referred to as ``Polio 
Pioneers'', participated in these trials.
  The outcomes of these field trials were truly significant. Reports 
indicated that the Salk vaccine was 80-90 percent effective in 
preventing polio and in the four years following the trials, medical 
personnel administered 450 million doses of the vaccine, making it a 
standard fixture among childhood immunizations. By the end of 2003, 
poliomyelitis had been eliminated world-wide in all but 6 countries. 
The result of this vaccination--nearly 5 million children have been 
given the ability to walk who would otherwise have been paralyzed and 
1.25 million childhood deaths have been averted.
  The Salk polio vaccine is a great contribution to our nation and to 
the entire world. While poliovirus was eradicated from the United 
States by the early 1980's, it continues to exist in the wild in a 
limited number of regions around the world. Nevertheless, the World 
Health Organization has set 2005 as the target date for complete, 
global eradication of the virus. It is through the unwavering support 
and undying

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efforts of the innovators of this world and organizations such as the 
March of Dimes that make this occasion possible. The people of Virginia 
thank you, the people of the United States thank you, and most 
importantly the world thanks you.

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