Cheryl
Bush Bird Flu Plan All Hype no Substance
Fri Jan 13, 2006 12:10
152.163.100.200
Madeline Drexler, author of "Secret Agents: The Menace of Emerging Infections" is not impressed with Bush's "All-Spin, No Spine" plan to combat "the coming bird flu pandemic." This is hardly a surprise: We heard a lot of hype from the White House about how its new Homeland Security system would make the US ready to take on any disaster. Then Katrina and Rita hit.
Drexler describes the usual Bush strategy - promise 'em anything then give 'em next to nothing (body armor with holes comes to mind as a key example): "Pandemic Influenza Plan leaves cash-strapped and staff-starved state and local health departments to pay for drugs and other vital necessities and to logistically handle a crisis on their own. That approach makes sense in one respect, because all public health preparedness and response ultimately takes place locally.
"But in a global economy, no locality could be wholly self-sufficient for the 12 to 18 months that a pandemic would play out. 'There are a lot of things besides vaccines and antivirals that are going to be critical,"'said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. "At this point, we virtually have no plans for that: masks, syringes, needles, IV bags, ventilators, food supply."
"We don't know where we'll get the medicines we take daily, the fuel that keeps us warm and runs our transportation, the consumer products and services we rely on. "This will have all the makings of a slow-motion worldwide tsunami," Osterholm said. "You never can be fully prepared for this. But there are many things we can do."
"To truly earn the public's trust, national officials should issue regular progress reports on the nuts and bolts of protecting us (and the rest of the world) against a lethal flu virus. The issue should be kept front and center, just as our leaders manage to keep the terrorism threat front and center. As a bonus, officials might draw up national plans to revive the long-neglected public health system and guarantee healthcare for all Americans, even in non-pandemic times.
"But until words are paired with such actions, the administration's spiffy new campaign to warn us about pandemic flu amounts to little more than spin. "
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-op-drexler8jan08,0,4446550.story?coll=la-sunday-commentary
Drexler describes the usual Bush strategy - promise 'em anything then give 'em next to nothing (body armor with holes comes to mind as a key example): "Pandemic Influenza Plan leaves cash-strapped and staff-starved state and local health departments to pay for drugs and other vital necessities and to logistically handle a crisis on their own. That approach makes sense in one respect, because all public health preparedness and response ultimately takes place locally.
"But in a global economy, no locality could be wholly self-sufficient for the 12 to 18 months that a pandemic would play out. 'There are a lot of things besides vaccines and antivirals that are going to be critical,"'said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. "At this point, we virtually have no plans for that: masks, syringes, needles, IV bags, ventilators, food supply."
"We don't know where we'll get the medicines we take daily, the fuel that keeps us warm and runs our transportation, the consumer products and services we rely on. "This will have all the makings of a slow-motion worldwide tsunami," Osterholm said. "You never can be fully prepared for this. But there are many things we can do."
"To truly earn the public's trust, national officials should issue regular progress reports on the nuts and bolts of protecting us (and the rest of the world) against a lethal flu virus. The issue should be kept front and center, just as our leaders manage to keep the terrorism threat front and center. As a bonus, officials might draw up national plans to revive the long-neglected public health system and guarantee healthcare for all Americans, even in non-pandemic times.
"But until words are paired with such actions, the administration's spiffy new campaign to warn us about pandemic flu amounts to little more than spin. "
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-op-drexler8jan08,0,4446550.story?coll=la-sunday-commentary
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