THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
____________________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JUNE 30, 2009
Statement by the President on Today’s Meeting to Discuss the 1976 H1N1 Flu Outbreak
"Today I joined Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Homeland Security Advisor John Brennan and other senior advisors to meet with a select group of individuals who could speak knowledgeably about the lessons learned from the 1976 influenza so that we can further prepare this nation for the possibility of a more severe outbreak of H1N1 flu."
Meeting participants (with roles in 1976):
- Hon. F. David Mathews, former Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW)
- Hon. William Howard Taft IV, former General Counsel, HEW
- David Sencer, MD, former CDC Director
- Walter ("Walt") Dowdle, MD, former CDC Virology Division Director
- David Hamburg, MD, former President of the Institute of Medicine; current FDA Commissioner Peggy Hamburg’s father
- Harvey Fineberg, MD, Co-author, The Swine Flu Affair: Decision-Making on a Slippery Disease; current President of the Institute of Medicine
