50th Anniversary of the Salk Polio Vaccine Field Trials

50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SALK POLIO VACCINE FIELD TRIALS

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, this coming Monday is the 50th anniversary of the Salk polio vaccine field trials.

On April 26, in conjunction with National Immunization Week, the March of Dimes will commemorate the development of the Salk polio vaccine.

This day holds great significance for our Nation. Fifty years ago, 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 following months, more than 1 million school children participated in these trials, making this the largest peacetime volunteer mobilization in United States history.

National Immunization week, which was established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is an opportune time to emphasize the importance of immunizations. In April of every year since 1993, dedicated people across the country have joined forces with State and local health departments, health care providers, and other partners to deliver this immunization message.

Immunization against vaccine-preventable disease is one of the most effective health care and public health tools developed in the 20th century. Advances in technology and widespread immunization efforts have led to an all-time record low in the infection rate for diseases that once devastated entire communities. Smallpox has been eradicated; polio has been eliminated from the Western Hemisphere; and the number of cases of other infectious diseases has been reduced to record lows.

We have learned a vast amount about the importance of immunizing children and adults in this country since the creation of the Salk vaccine. However, there is still work to be done. Though overall immunization levels in the United States have been improving, levels in many parts of the country remain dangerously low. According to a 2001 National Immunization Survey Conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 77 percent of our Nation's children are fully immunized by age 2. Tragically, levels in some areas of the country are as low as 55 percent.

The Salk vaccine could not have ended the scourge of polio in American without a concerted Federal effort to provide it to all of our citizens. I hope that my colleagues will join me in continuing and expanding Federal support for immunization efforts.