HY Bill, I've Just returned from a fairly long session at WHO/Geneva, which as
you know had preempted my participation at the SUMEX*AIM workshop, JI hope soon
to be brlefed by my colleaques here on how that went) meanwhile I seek your
advice om some other matters related to WHO,

Mahler (the still fairly ‘mew! directoregeneral of WHO) mas asked me
to return in September for 2a3 weeks to serve as am informal staff to him in
thinking through WHO!s mew orientation for the mext 5 years, AS you may know he
18 a passionate =* one daressay ‘driven! «= personality determined to do
something consequential for public health, regardiess of political obstacles
to him, He has not been too keen on research as an answer, but has qradually
beem reweducatedabout relevance, particularly im response to some new
initiatives that a group of us have been formulating about ‘parasitic! disease
which of course predominates ao intensely in the poor, tropical countries,
There are also some very exciting new developments about the use of genetic
hybpids of E, cold x Salmonetia typhi, and amalogous things with cholera and
dysentery ‘for producing liveevaccimes for these large scale killers,

For mow all this has little to do with SUMEX*AIM, considering how
difficult it is to get much lower levels of sophistication to am operational
level [though I think our teleconferencing could be used to very great
efficacy and economy in the wey WHO works from day to day) and I am very sure
there will be many other wrinkies,) /

What IT am asking you about {8s whe im NIK IT might be talking to
faqudetiy!) for sources of radical mew but good ideas in world health programs,
There {8 mothing to limit this to lab, research) in fact Mahier himsel? is
moatiy focussed on healthwSERVICES and manpower upgrading, as you might imagine
but there ate mo fixed jimits to the discussion,

It is mot settled that I will take this om (it would be a substantia!
bite {mto my time and eneray during the next year): this depends mostiy on
whether T can formulate any ideas that I would give much credit to myself,

Bue (t does seem jike a sotentially hightyleld opportunity to respond to a
tremendous challenge,

Im some ways, the WORLD health system would be easier to model inte
an inductive inference planning system than more jocal issues, because one
would be working omly with the larqerescale comecepts v= byt I have no illusions
about being able to program this very usefully et the present leve! of our
apt, But to i)lustrate am example of tcombinatorial! Chence mechanizabie)
inferences it did oceur to me to look inte WHO tryimg to sponsor a pharmas
ceutical development cooperative industry, to be a publicesector response to
the kinds of problems that orivatesenterprise [with FDA om its back) is
Peally structurally unable to handie,

Need IT say that TESTING such hypotheses {8 perhaos evem more difficult
them a molecular formula im DENDRAL! /
Josh &-307!?