| Dr. Varmus - Director of
NIH,
colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great priviledge for me to be with you here this morning. Coming to the
National Institute for Health I do not feel like a visitor - I rather feel come like a
colleague - a colleague in the quest for health advancement and a colleague in our
conviction that science can bring humanity further - and in thedetermination that
knowledge should be shared for the improvement of the human condition.
When I took office as Director General of WHO I pledged that WHO would reach out - to
the rest of the UN family - to the private sector and to civil society. The broad global
scientific community is indeed included in that ambition. The World Health Organization -
with its 3500 staff, its headquarter, its regional offices, its country offices and its
collaborating centers - remains a small organization compared with the challenges of its
mandate as spelled out in th econstitution: to achive "the attainment by all peoples
of the highest possible attainment of health".
The way ahead for WHO lies in improving what we do by focusing our efforts to reduce
the burden of ill-health and help countries and communities build healthy populations. We
will be speaking out for health and in all we do we will strive for having access to the
latest evidence and the latest scientific breakthroughs.
Here lies the core of our partnership. We share the beliefe that science and research
have such a crucial role to play in our common endeavour. WHO and NIH are engaged in a
number of joint activities already - and I believe there is much more that we can achieve
together.
Think about it - in historic terms the marriage between science and health is a
relatively recent event.. Not long time ago superstition, magic and astrology were the
only weapons our ancestors had to fight diseases and epidemics that haunted the world.
They were seen as divine punishments or unfavorble influence of the heavenly bodies.
We owe that marriage to the creators of modern bacterology, epidemiology and
therapeutics - to scientists such as Lous Pasteur, Robert Koch, John Snow, Alexander
Fleming and Paul Erlich - and their discoveries that shaped modern medicine and public
health policies. They helped rescue our civilization from the dark ages of the unknown -
and the unknown had names such as plagues, cholera or syphilis.
The concept of a joint effort among nations to strive for better health is of more
recent origin. In 1902 - nearly 50 years before WHO was born, the International Sanitary
Bureau was created here in Washington. Wise and forward-looking people understood that
countries needed to unite for health and human development. Globalization was already a
fact.
The founding fathers and mothers of WHO - and their grandfathers and grandmothers of
PAHO - knew it perfectly well: There are no health sancutaries. The suffering of the many
must be a common concern in an interdependant world. Even the strongest of nations stand
to loose from isolationism. Health is the most striking reminder of national, regional and
global interdependence.
There have been success stories. The eradication of smallpox by vaccination is perhaps
the most illustrative example of a global strategy leading to global victory against a
devastating disease.
But the challenges ahead are complex. We have learned the hard way that in health we
just win battles - we rarely win wars. Our victories are temporary and our enemies are
incredibly apt to change strategies and develop new weapons and new defenses. The very
progress of our civilization creates new threats - modern transportation moves millions
around the world, facilitating the spreading of epidemics. Environmental pollution affects
the health of billions - not to speak of war and conflict which continue to leave millions
and millions suffering.
And as the most severe underlying factor there is the persistence of poverty - the
single biggest source of ill-health and human suffering.
When forging a vision for health and human development into a new century we need to
apply a broad perspective. Democracy, peace and human rights create vthe conditions for
renewed strategies towards human development and a lasting combat against poverty and
ill-health. It is within this same framework that we must strive for the full utilization
of our scientific advances.
I believe that the role of health in development will receive much broader attention in
the coming years. Investing in helath means investing in a more performing economy - more
meaningful jobs and more meaningful lives. Time has come to remind not only health
ministres of this fact - but also to remind Prime Ministers and Presidents that they are
truly health ministers themselves.
Some years ago the world discovered the role of education - especially of young women.
Now we are gradually assembling evidence of the key importance of health. Good health also
needs to be perceived as an investment. It is needed for economic, social and political
development - it cannot merely be seen as an expenditure. This notion is brought to us not
by any ideology - but by evidence based, sound economic research.
So the partnership between WHO and NIH should have a bright and meaningful future. We
need your evidence and insight - and you will benefit from the feedback from our global
hands-on experience and gathering of facts.
We have to cope with ever changing environments - constant renewal of knowledge -
coupled with the ever emerging new biological, economical, social and political threats
and challenges to public health.
For WHO the choice is clear as it is complex: Health research and knowledge support
must be a crucial pillar of the organization. A system that constantly supplies the
organization with evidence-based information in all fields of science: biological,
medical, social, economical and ethical. A system that will help governments in the
difficult decision making and priority setting in health. A system which not only passivly
collects data but which plays and active and intelligent role in selecting and stimulating
strategic research and development in neglected areas.
The new structure of WHO will seek to reflect tehse needs. Out of the nine clusters we
have created one is devoted to Evidence and Information for policy. I wish to see this
develop into a real global public good. Solid evidence which can guide us when we set
priorities - for research, health interventions, capacity building and the structuring of
our health systems.
In the area of communicable diseases we are shaping a new R&D department - which
will include the Special Progrmme for Research and Training in Tropical diesases - TDR - a
well known partner of NIH - such as in in the Multilteral Initiative on Malaria. The HRP
programme - research on human reproduction will be more directly integrated with our
efforts in the whole area of family and community health - seeing to it that our
activities fully beneifit from the best of research.
I look forward to your comments and questions. NIH under Dr. Varmus has indeed
emphasized international action and collaboration. This very morning we had the
opportunity to sit next to each other and talk about the new initiative to Roll Back
Malaria. That initiative - bringing togehter contributions from WHO, UNICEF, the World
Bank and UNDP - has gained significantly from the research and development here at NIH -
and I count you as a real partner as we now move ahead. |
