作家
 
字體：小 中 大 |
|
|
|
| 2005/11/10 19:42:10瀏覽411｜回應0｜推薦0 | |
| November 1, 2005 As the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu spreads from Asia to other continents, U.S. health officials are planning for the possibility of the virus becoming more easily transmitted between humans and the possibility of a pandemic killing millions worldwide. President Bush outlined a national preparedness plan during an appearance before the National Institutes of Health on Nov. 1, 2005, emphasizing vaccines, antiviral drugs, and local and military preparedness. He asked Congress to approve $7.1 billion in funding for government agencies and vaccine manufacturers.President Bush presents the U.S. influenza plan at the National Institutes of Health While the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza explains that all essential federal agencies will collaborate to prepare for the avian flu, the plan also relies on local government involvement, strong efforts from the private sector and foreign partnerships. Following the plan's release, Democratic leaders criticized the Bush administration for failing to act sooner to protect the nation against the deadly virus. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Vermont said in a statement, "The recent spread of avian flu to Europe proves we cannot afford to drag our feet any longer. The looming threat of a pandemic demands action now." Other critics noted that the plan fails to adequately help those countries already battling the virus. "It looks to me like we're spending an awful lot of money per vaccinated American and an awful low amount on your essential surveillance," Laurie Garrett, a senior analyst from the Council on Foreign Relations, told the New York Times. Much of the plan, and a significant portion of the requested $7.1 billion, deals with the availability and distribution of an avian flu vaccine and antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu. In order for the virus to become a pandemic, it must mutate into a form that will travel easily from human to human, which poses difficulties from a public health perspective because scientists cannot create a vaccine until the virus transforms. "When and if a flu pandemic virus emerges, we will need to make a vaccine to that virus so it's really not possible to stockpile a vaccine in large quantities in advance," said Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. President Bush asked Congress to earmark $2.8 billion to expedite the development of a vaccine as new strains emerge and an additional $1.2 billion to purchase enough vaccine for 20 million Americans, including first responders and at-risk populations. In the meantime, he also requested $1 billion to create a stockpile of antiviral drugs. The Swiss drugmaker Roche, the only manufacturer of the antiviral medication Tamiflu, announced Nov. 1, 2005 that it was prepared to supply the United States with over 2 million doses of the sought-after drug this year. Some manufacturers are wary of mass drug production because of liability concerns. Federal liability protections currently only apply to childhood vaccines, but both the Senate and President Bush have said they are committed to protecting the drug companies. "We cannot handle the threats we face today with a broken flu vaccine system," said Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., as she introduced legislation with Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., that would guarantee financial returns for vaccine production and increase incentives to manufacture needed vaccines. The Food and Drug Administration issued recent warnings about counterfeit drugs labeled as Tamiflu or another popular antiviral medication, Relenza. In case the avian flu becomes a pandemic, the FDA indicated that it would be ready with a "rapid response team" to prevent the sale of fraudulent drugs. HHS Secretary Leavitt speaks to reporters after visiting a commercial poultry farm in Thailand, Photo courtesy of U.S. Embassy - The Department of Health and Human Services has said it will cooperate with international groups such as the World Health Organization and the Food and Agricultural Organization in combating the flu. In early October 2005, HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt toured Southeast Asia with WHO Director General Dr. Lee Jong-wook to encourage other world leaders to put up a united front against the flu. Leavitt also examined the pandemic preparation strategies of other countries, including plans for a multinational stockpile of antiviral drugs. The U.S. response plan also requires communication between the government and local poultry farmers to ensure that they are familiar with the necessary precautions. Chicken farmers on the Eastern shore of Maryland, Delaware and Virginia have already received instructions from the CDC on safety procedures. Jenny Rhodes, a poultry farmer in Maryland, told the Washington Post that farmers understand the threats of an outbreak. "For us, biosecurity is something we deal with every day." The plan also allows for military intervention to enforce quarantines and other operations should outbreaks occur in the United Sates. In the wake of the delayed government response to Hurricane Katrina, President Bush said that one of the government's failures was not militarizing the relief effort. The Department of Defense would have the national infrastructure to aid both local and federal agencies in the event of a pandemic, the president said. "The military has enormous operational capacity," Gerberding said. In his speech, President Bush also announced the launch of the Web site www.pandemicflu.gov, a localized site to answer the public's questions about the flu and government response. Compiled for the Online NewsHour by Brian Wolly http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/birdflu/uspreparedness.html [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] List owner : Alan Fogelquist, Ph.D., Director, Eurasia Research Center Editorial Advisors - Moderators: Alan Fogelquist, Ph. D., Ralph Davis,(Editor, RMSMC and post-Soviet security analyst), Professor Emeritus Roger Hamburg (Political Science, U. of South Bend), Professor H. B. Paksoy (History and Middle East Studies), Professor Emeritus George G. S. Murphy (Economics, UCLA), Dr. Alessandro Politi (Strategic and OSINT Analysis, Italy), Marius Labentowicz, M. Sc. (Former Solidarity activist and political prisoner, Poland, now a resident of Canada), Dr. Georg Schoefbaenker, Austrian Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution, OISR) Visit ERC's Geopolitical Web Sites at: http://globalgeopolitics.net/wordpress/ http://globalgeopolitics.net/ To Unsubscribe send message to: global-geopolitics-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Materials distributed on this list are from open sources for individual non-commercial non-profit educational purposes according to academic standards of fair use by those who have subscribed to the list. Opinions expressed in messages posted on the group do not necessarily reflect those of the moderators. All items posted on the list are for individual educational non-commercial use only in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107. Anyone seeking to reproduce any of these materials commercially should seek permission from the original copyright holder. Partisan debate is not allowed. |
|
| ( 休閒生活｜生活情報 ) |
