Legislative
Flu Pandemic Forum Highlights Wide Range of Planning Issues
At a recent forum convened by the public health advocacy group Trust for America’s Health (TFAH), panelists addressed the looming threat of a flu pandemic and how best to prepare the Nation. The panel, which included journalists, policy experts, politicians, federal and state health agency officials, and business leaders, came up with more questions than answers, but the group did reach some conclusions. Among them: the president must lead the way in calling public attention to the threat; local leaders need to ensure that the frail and vulnerable are protected; and Americans in general should be taught a “preparedness†mindset – they need to plan ahead for a variety of threats to health and safety.
The panel noted the possibility that pandemic flu cannot be stopped. For example, preparing for a pandemic caused by the H5N1 avian flu virus now circulating in a number of countries poses many problems. Its emergence is relatively recent and it is mutating. Thus, only limited research can be done in advance to develop effective vaccines and antiviral drugs and to stockpile and distribute those products.
On the other hand, the panelists said, appropriate funding for preparedness programs can be started. That too appears to be a problem, however. TFAH has been aggressively lobbying Congress for a boost in the funding, but – as of June 7 – $1 billion for pandemic flu preparation and response programs in FY 2008 has been allocated, which is half a billion less than TFAH sought. And since 2005, President Bush has called for $7 billion in spending for pandemic preparedness, but so far the amount Congress has appropriated totals $5.6 billion.
Much of the forum was devoted to spurring wider debate on a range of issues, although panelists did not necessarily agree on solutions. They discussed methods of communication between federal and state officials, constituents, and the media. And they debated at length questions on whether the public should be aware in advance of the pandemic flu possibility, or if a strategy already should be in place for dealing with this crisis on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood, district-by-district basis.
They also considered border security, network news coverage, the spread of misinformation through blogs and online communities, when and how schools and businesses should be shut down, and other critical issues ranging from the economic strain of the outbreak to hospitals’ ability to treat and quarantine people.
In addition, the guidance notes a number of “standards of special importance.†These include OSHA’s respiratory protection standard, personal protective equipment standard, bloodborne pathogens standard, and the Occupational Safety and Health Act’s general duty clause.
This latest guidance is consistent with ones previously issued, including OSHA’s pandemic guidance for general workplaces released in February, and those issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In fact, Wright said, HHS and other government agencies extensively reviewed OSHA’s health care guidance. He added that the OSHA document differs from other pandemic guidance available in that it focuses on protecting workers as well as on infection control.
Download OSHA’s Latest Pandemic Guidance Document (Acrobat)