HHS Secretary Meets with Pakistani Minister for Information, Broadcasting and Health

July 28, 2008 – Secretary Leavitt meets with Pakistani Minister of Health, Information and Culture Shehrbano “Sherry” Rehman. (Photo Credit: Chris Smith, HHS)

July 28, 2008 – U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Michael O. Leavitt today welcomed to Washington Her Excellency Shehrbano “Sherry” Rehman, the Minister for Information, Broadcasting and Health of Pakistan.  Minister Rehman is visiting Washington, D.C., as part of Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s trip to the United States.  Minister Rehman accompanied the Prime Minister to his meeting with President Bush as well.

Secretary Leavitt thanked Minister Rehman for her Government's efforts to eradicate polio, and urged strong and focus work for the rest of the year to stamp out the last, few cases of the crippling disease.  Through the HHS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Government is the largest funder of the global polio-eradication campaign, and is providing financial and technical assistance to the last four countries in Africa and South Asia are still suffering from circulating wild poliovirus.  In Pakistan, HHS/CDC channels its support for eradication through the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank.

At the request of the Pakistani Government, HHS/CDC also established a field epidemiology program in Pakistan in the Fall of 2006.  This program has helped train Pakistani scientists on how to better monitor localized public-health threats like polio and hepatitis, as well as potential global pandemics such as highly pathogenic avian influenza.  Secretary Leavitt reiterated the importance HHS places on capacity-building of local experts around the world, and expressed his hope that our partnership with Pakistan would grow.

The Secretary and the Minister also discussed the acute problem of hepatitis in Pakistan; according to the Minister, as many as 40 percent of Pakistanis could be infected with one or more strains of hepatitis.

Last revised: August 13, 2008