CHICAGO,
IL –U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) today warned that now more
than ever the federal government must make a serious investment in the
public health infrastructure. She joined representatives from Chicago’s
Public Health Department and Dr. Quentin Young, former President of the
American Public Health Association, during a news conference at the Uptown
Neighborhood Health Center to announce the Bioterrorism Protection Act
(BioPAct) of 2001. The legislation, to be introduced this week, would
provide $7 billion to respond to growing and urgent health needs and security
threats. Of that amount, $3.5 billion would be used for public health
infrastructure.
“Our
public health and medical systems are already operating on a thin margin.
The flu season alone can create serious challenges. Now we must be
able to respond to ongoing health care needs and be prepared to handle
chemical accidents, truck bombs, planes used as missiles, or outbreaks
of anthrax and biological diseases. And we must be able to respond
in all parts of the country at all times,” Schakowsky said, who was appointed
by Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt to the Homeland Security Task Force.
Members of the Task Force drafted BioPAct.
Schakowsky
added that following the terrorist and anthrax attacks on the United States,
Congress and the President have a responsibility to ensure that local governments,
who are first responders in the fight against bioterrorism and health threats,
are equipped and ready to meet serious health challenges.
“In
Chicago and across the country, we have excellent and committed public
health and medical personnel who are doing their best to meet expected
and unexpected needs. But we are dangerously unprepared to meet the
potential challenges ahead,” Schakowsky said.
“Many
local health departments and community health providers are greatly underfunded,
face critical shortages, and do not have internet capacity or even fax
machines, meaning that they cannot be informed of potential emergencies
or given response instructions on a timely basis. Yet, local health
agencies are expected to be first on the scene and first in line to deal
with major emergencies” Schakowsky added.
Schakowsky
also pointed to a growing critical shortage of nurses and other medical
professionals, many medical personnel who are not adequately trained in
detection and response to outbreaks of biological diseases, and laboratories
that lack adequate numbers of trained epidemiologists.
A
longtime advocate of public health and affordable health care, Schakowsky
called on Congress and the President to immediately pass BioPAct so that
our nation’s serious public health concerns can be addressed. The
bill would provide $7 billion to respond to the health and security crisis.
Of that amount, $3.5 billion would be dedicated to public health infrastructure
and response to bioterrorism:
1.
$1.4 billion to increase national stockpile of anthrax antibiotics; to
acquire additional smallpox vaccines; to develop new medicines and vaccines;
to train healthcare professionals; and to streamline the FDA approval process.
2.
$1 billion to provide training and education to first responders and medical
personnel, and to improve community emergency response by expanding hospital
and community centers capacity.
3.
$600 million in grants to local authorities to develop emergency response
plans and to improve intergovernmental coordination and response.
4.
$500 million to upgrade or build local communications systems and to ensure
that local systems are hooked up to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The funds would also be used to train health professionals in detection;
to upgrade laboratories; to ensure 24-hour access to public health personnel;
and to expand CDC capabilities.
“We
must act now to revitalize our public health system. We cannot guarantee
public health and safety with half-way measures and we cannot do it on
the cheap. President Bush’s proposal to provide $175 million for
state and local public health will not do the job – and I hope that he
will be convinced to provide the funding that local health officials say
is needed to rebuild public health,” Schakowsky said.
“We
must pass the Bioterrorism Protection Act of 2001 now so that we can begin
that work immediately. It is likely that the $3.5 billion will wind
up being a downpayment on needed improvements, but it is a downpayment
that we cannot afford to delay. I will do everything possible to
make sure that, before Congress adjourns, we give local and state public
health officials the resources that they need to protect us,” Schakowsky
concluded. |