Message to the Congress Transmitting Annual Report on the United States-Japan Cooperative Medical Science Program.

To the Congress of the United States:

I am pleased to send to you the second annual report of the U.S...-Japan Cooperative Medical Science Program.

This joint program, undertaken in 1965 following a meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Sato and myself, is directed against serious diseases still too prevalent in Asian countries: cholera, tuberculosis, leprosy, virus diseases, parasitic diseases, and malnutrition. These are diseases which plague the people of that great region, and which threaten our armed forces stationed in Southeast Asia.

Although the Cooperative Medical Science Program is not yet three years old, we can point to substantial progress in research on leprosy, cholera, and nutrition.

This report outlines that progress in detail. It is heartening testimony to all of us who are committed to a better life for the world's people, and who believe that in broader international cooperation lies mankind's best hope for peace.

LYNDON B. JOHNSON

The White House

January 16, 1969