New Hampshire Delegation Reacts to Bush’s $7.1 Billion Plan
WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 – Even before President George W. Bush announced Tuesday his $7.1 billion strategy to safeguard America against a flu pandemic, New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg was working on his own plan to protect Americans from the avian flu and other potentially deadly pandemics.
“We must act now to protect Americans from a potential public health crisis and possibly prevent one,” Gregg, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said in a press release. “Funding is only one part of a larger strategy, however.”
On Monday, prior to Bush’s speech, Gregg joined Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) in working to redirect $3.954 billion to protect and prepare Americans against avian flu and other possible pandemics. “We also must focus on enhancing applied research into pandemic and bioterror diseases and countermeasures; strengthen support of the vaccine industry; and provide the necessary liability protections to companies who manufacturer pandemic and bioterror countermeasure products,” Gregg added. The money, which would come from budget savings, would be used to develop and stockpile antiviral medications and vaccines for influenza and other emerging pandemics, to intensify surveillance of these pandemics and to enhance local, state and federal preparedness against influenza and other newly emerging pandemics. “The funding included in this amendment is a major step towards ensuring America has the resources needed to detect, identify and contain the spread of avian flu in humans,” Frist said in a press release, adding that Bush’s “bold and decisive leadership today reflects his understanding of the urgency of confronting this issue.” The amendment, which was offered to the 2005 budget bill , is pending. In his speech Tuesday, Bush outlined a three-part strategy to protect the United States against pandemic influenza: to detect outbreaks before they spread around the world, to protect Americans by stockpiling vaccines and antiviral medications while accelerating development of new vaccine technologies and finally to ensure that communities are ready to respond to pandemic outbreaks. Bush’s $7.1 billion request consists of $2.8 billion for development of cell-culture technology, $1.519 billion for the Departments of Health and Human Services and Defense to buy flu vaccines, $1.029 billion to stockpile antiviral medications, $800 million for development of new treatments and vaccines, $644 million to ensure that all levels of government are prepared to respond to a pandemic outbreak and $251 million to detect and contain outbreaks.
“While there is no avian flu pandemic in the United States or any other location around the globe at this time, we must take critical steps to prepare and protect the nation in the event of a deadly influenza outbreak,” New Hampshire Sen. John Sununu said in a press release. “By outlining a strategy that focuses on the development and stockpiling of vaccines and antiviral drugs and emergency plans, the President has put forth a policy that stands to save millions of lives.”
As of Nov. 1, 122 humans have been infected by the avian flu in Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam , according to the World Health Organization. Of those infected, 62 have died.
“Undeniably, initiatives to head off legitimate threats to public health take precedence over less-immediate priorities,” New Hampshire Rep. Charles Bass said in a press release. “Developing a proposal to confront a potential avian flu outbreak is a prudent response to the concerns of global health leaders, and I look forward to reviewing the President’s plan.”
New Hampshire Rep. Jeb Bradley said he thinks “we’ve got to address the situation with regard to vaccinations,” adding that Bush’s plan “makes a lot of sense.”
“We’ve got to prioritize,” Bass said, citing possible cuts in discretionary spending and budget reconciliation to offset the cost of Bush’s proposed plan.
