Post by Hope on Aug 1, 2005 0:56:23 GMT -5
Nation unready for germ attacks
By Mimi Hall, USA TODAY
www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-07-31-germ-attacks_x.htm?csp=24&RM_Exclude=Juno
WASHINGTON — The nation is woefully unprepared to respond to a bioterrorism attack despite a $20 billion government investment in bioterrorism preparedness since 2001, according to top government and public health officials and members of Congress. (Related story: Cities fret over vaccine deliveries)
"We're almost four years after 9/11, and we've made maybe six months' worth of progress," says Irwin Redlener of Columbia University's National Center for Disaster Preparedness. Redlener says the programs could be run more effectively. "We're wasting billions and billions of dollars," he says.
Former Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge says a biological attack with a contagious agent is his greatest fear. With respect to preparedness, "we're not where we want to be," he says.
Michael Chertoff, the current secretary, named a new chief medical officer last month and said he intends to put more emphasis on potentially catastrophic attacks. But bioterrorism preparedness rests largely with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which is responsible for stocking lifesaving antidotes, sharing information among labs and hospitals and helping communities deliver aid in an emergency.
"This challenge is larger than almost anything we've ever faced," says William Raub, who runs HHS' public health emergency preparedness. The government may be years away from being adequately prepared, he says, but "I don't think anyone here has anything to apologize for." Among the problems.....
SNIP
By Mimi Hall, USA TODAY
www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-07-31-germ-attacks_x.htm?csp=24&RM_Exclude=Juno
WASHINGTON — The nation is woefully unprepared to respond to a bioterrorism attack despite a $20 billion government investment in bioterrorism preparedness since 2001, according to top government and public health officials and members of Congress. (Related story: Cities fret over vaccine deliveries)
"We're almost four years after 9/11, and we've made maybe six months' worth of progress," says Irwin Redlener of Columbia University's National Center for Disaster Preparedness. Redlener says the programs could be run more effectively. "We're wasting billions and billions of dollars," he says.
Former Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge says a biological attack with a contagious agent is his greatest fear. With respect to preparedness, "we're not where we want to be," he says.
Michael Chertoff, the current secretary, named a new chief medical officer last month and said he intends to put more emphasis on potentially catastrophic attacks. But bioterrorism preparedness rests largely with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which is responsible for stocking lifesaving antidotes, sharing information among labs and hospitals and helping communities deliver aid in an emergency.
"This challenge is larger than almost anything we've ever faced," says William Raub, who runs HHS' public health emergency preparedness. The government may be years away from being adequately prepared, he says, but "I don't think anyone here has anything to apologize for." Among the problems.....
SNIP