Diary Prequel Package — page 89

Leave for Iraq! Dec. 16, 2003 - Went to dinner reception at the home of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs William Winkenwerder in honor of Dr. Khudair Abbas, Health Minister of Iraq. Present among others were Kristen Silverberg (who spent time in Iraq - see above regarding the books of HPIM-15 that I sent to Iraq), Ken Bernard, Surgeon General Richard Carmona, Congressman Fred Upton, etc. Iraqs really want me to go to Iraq for moral support of the Iraqi medical establishment and health system. They were all very appreciative of the books that I sent. It is still very dangerous in Iraq, but I am pursuing going with Secretary Thompson in Jan/Feb if possible. Jan. 21, 2004 - Over the past month a number of issues have arisen. There have been 34 cases of SARS in China. The Fujian strain of Influenza A escalated and now is declining. It may be that it was just a moderate year that peaked early and had people worrying about it being a catastrophic year. It may turn out that it was not that bad. Big worry is the appearance of H5N1 with 4-5 cases of jumping from chicken to man in Viet Nam and massive chicken illnesses and deaths in Viet Nam, S. Korea and Japan. We are all busy in planning for a potential pandemic flu. No transmissions from person to person. Also, we had been working on the document in response to the IOM report on "dual use" microbes. We (HSC, DHS, etc) established a Memorandum of agreement and a Charter for the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity to advise the Secretary, HHS, the Director, NIH, and the Secretaries of all of the Agencies involved in the conduct and support of potential dual use research in the life sciences. I presented the MOA and the charter to the Deputies in the situation room in the White House. It was well received and will ultimately be signed by the Secretaries. On the way out of the WH, I saw Margaret Spellings who said that the President was talking about me today in that he wanted to be briefed by a group including me and Julie Gerberding on prevention of HIV/AIDS by abstinence, be faithful and condoms (ABC). Jan. 21 - Feb. 25, 2004 - Very busy with many issues. Two Congressional Hearings: 1) House Gov. Ops - Pandemic Flu; 2) Full Approp (Senate) on BSE. Also, much stress with situation of outside activities. I was "interviewed" by Alan Slobodin as was Andy von Eschenbach, Francis Collins, Don Lindberg and ethics offices about "lecture awards". Does not appear to be a problem for me, but they will likely force much greater restrictions on outside activities. White House (Gary Edson) has asked me to put together a proposal for eradication of a few "neglected diseases" in developing countries similar to what I did for the PEPFAR. I was very persistent and finally got into TGT's party to go to Iraq. I feel almost an obligation to do this for my country even though I must admit it is a bit scary. It sounds corny, but it is the "Band of Brothers" feeling that I seem not to be able to get away from. I am a visible public servant and this is what I do. This is probably the most dangerous situation I will have ever been in. Will report details when I return. Feb. 26, 2004 - Leave for Iraq!