DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES

Public Health Service



Office of the Assistant Secretary
for Health
Washington DC 20201

25JAN 1981

MEMORANDUM

TO

: Agency Heads
Managers, Administrators and Program Specialists

FROM :  Surgeon General

SUBJECT :  Federal Interagency Meeting on Research and Prevention on
        Mental Retardation

This is written to share with you my excitement that health care in the
United States has entered a new era; an era of concern for prevention --
not just cure.  Secretary Richard Schweiker has repeatedly suggested the
importance of such concern as a significant part of the policy endorsed by
the Department of Health and Human Services, and has expressed belief that
the three areas which offer the greatest promise for improving American
health care are biomedical research, disease prevention and health promo-
tion.

Within the organizational structure of the Department, these activities
cover a broad spectrum of programs and involve the expertise of numerous
health specialists.  Noteworthy is the fact that despite their diverse
objectives, they are "inseparably linked by our over-riding goal of promo-
ting and protecting the well-being of the 200 million people we serve."
In this regard, I plan to meet with representatives of the President's Com-
mittee on Mental Retardation and top managers, administrators and program
specialists from other federal agencies to discuss their agendas in research
and prevention.  Deliberations will focus on:

.  the general state of the art relative to prevention of
mental retardation from biomedical causes,

.  specific past and present research or prevention activities
sponsored by agencies within the Department,

.  proposed known strategies for minimizing the occurrence of mental
retardation in future generations, and

.  innovative approaches to biomedical research and prevention

It is my hope that a significant outcome of this meeting wiil be esta-
blishment of a federal interagency committee on research and prevention.

Specifics regarding the meeting date and site are as follows:


Page 2 - Memorandum

Date:


Time:


Place:

Eagerly, we anticipate your positive reply to this memorandum of invitation

prior to Friday, January 29.  Should previously made commitments prevent
your active participation, however, please notify Mrs. Laverdia Roach (245-9563)
of the person who will represent your agency.

Monday, February 8, 1982

10:00 a.m.  - 12:00 noon

Conference Room 729-G
Hubert H. Humphrey Building
200 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, D.C. 20201

Enclosed find a copy of the tentative meeting agenda.  The final agenda will
be forwarded to you upon receipt of your response.

Attachments