Announcement of the Polio Vaccine Victory ('There is No Patent')
Delivered on April 12, 1955, following nationwide clinical trials proving the killed-virus polio vaccine safe and effective, Salk delivered his iconic statement on public health and patent-free medicine.
Full Transcript
Today marks the culmination of years of relentless research by hundreds of scientists, lab technicians, and over one million school children who participated as ‘Polio Pioneers.’
The official report compiled by Dr. Thomas Francis confirms that the inactivated polio vaccine is safe, potent, and 80 to 90 percent effective against paralytic poliomyelitis.
When Edward R. Murrow asked me who owns the patent on this vaccine, my answer was clear: There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?
This vaccine belongs to the public. It was funded by the dimes and quarters contributed by millions of ordinary citizens to the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. To lock such a discovery behind commercial monopolies or patent protection would be a betrayal of the human trust that made its development possible.
Our hope now is that through universal immunization, we may eradicate this paralyzing disease from the face of the Earth once and for all.
Defining Key Excerpts
"There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?"
"Risks are a part of life. But when the risk involves children, our duty is to bring the full weight of scientific rigor to safeguard their future."
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