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Mary LaskerMary Lasker
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called Parkner and Meyer, I think, in the Division of Biological Standards of the US Public Health Service, had developed a good vaccine for German measles which has been tested on a few hundred children and which seems to really work. It seems to me that we're now within sight of eliminating German measles in the population, and that at least this cause for mental retardation can be eliminated.

These aren't going to cut the death rate a great deal. They're just going to cut the misery rate a great deal.

Q:

In that connection, is the Kennedy Foundation doing anything?

Lasker

Well, they're supporting research against retardation, but as far as I know they didn't have anything to do with this particular effort, although I was influenced in doing this by Mrs. Shriver's interest in retardation.

Now, another thing of interest is that Jules Stein, my friend and the president of the Research to Prevent Blindness Association, got enough people stirring so that a bill for a separate Eye Institute -- in other words, separating blindness and eye diseases from the Institute for Nearological Diseases and Blindness -- has been introduced in both the House and the Senate, In the Senate there are 51 sponsors; in the House there are about 29 or 30. While we may not get the bill passed in this session, I think we probably could if I stayed at home, but I'm not going to stay at home to do this.





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