From: Richard_Socarides@who.eop.gov
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 08:24:15 -0500
Subject: Statement by the President: NIH/AIDS


                              THE WHITE HOUSE

                       Office of the Press Secretary
                           (Antigua, Guatemala)
For Immediate Release                                             March 11,
1999


                         STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

     I am very pleased to join Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna
Shalala, National Institutes of Health Director Harold Varmus, and my AIDS
policy office director Sandra Thurman in welcoming Dr. Gary Nabel as the
first director of the new vaccine research center at the NIH.  Dr. Nabel's
long and distinguished career as a research scientist will be an incredible
asset in our efforts to find preventative vaccines.

     The first order of business for Dr. Nabel will be the effort to
develop a vaccine for HIV.  This is a top priority of our AIDS research
efforts.  Here in the United States, over 40,000 people are newly infected
with HIV every year.  Across the world, the rate is nearly 6 million people
per year.  These are lives in jeopardy.  Though we have made remarkable
progress in treating HIV and AIDS, there is still no cure.  So our best
hope of bringing an end to the AIDS pandemic is to find a safe and
effective vaccine.

     I have issued a challenge to the scientific community to find an AIDS
vaccine within the decade. We are making important strides towards that
critical goal and the leadership of Dr. Nabel will help us progress even
more.  Dr. Varmus and his team of expert researchers at the NIH, working in
collaboration with scientists from across the globe, have produced
remarkable results in reducing AIDS mortality here and in many other
developed nations.  Their improved understanding of how HIV works will be
invaluable in the effort to find a vaccine to prevent infection in the
first place.

     The human tragedy of AIDS throughout the world must move all of us to
action.  The search for a vaccine for HIV must continue to be a global
priority because millions of precious lives hang in the balance.

                                 30-30-30