Biodefense - We Are Still Not Ready

Nov. 18, 2011 - PRLog -- The New York Times on 26 October 2011 ran the article: How Ready Are We for Bioterrorism?  [1]

In response, LOWELL P. WEICKER, former U.S. senator and governor of Connecticut wrote:  [2]

"Wil Hylton’s article “How Ready Are We for Bioterrorism?” raised important concerns about how hard it is to protect the country from naturally occurring and man-made biological threats. He outlined how the lack of profitability and the bureaucratic hoops required to get vaccines and medical countermeasures to market can mean we’re often our own worst enemy. But he missed an equally important and extremely troubling part of the equation: cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and to state budgets mean that even when we have medicines and vaccines, we aren’t in a position to get them to Americans quickly. Federal support for preparedness has been gutted, dropping 37 percent since fiscal year 2005, and state and local health departments have cut an estimated 44,000 workers between 2008 and 2010. After Sept. 11 and anthrax, we built up biodefense capabilities, but we’re moving backward. When the next tragedy strikes, we will not be ready. The price tag for lack of preparedness will be American lives."

This topic brings me back to the discussion  "Preventing a WMD September 11," February 2004: [3]

"Today, the threat of smallpox as a weapon of mass destruction  threatens a significant percentage of the global population. In the United States, approximately 25 percent (70 million) of the population would be excluded from smallpox vaccination due to risk factors that include eczema, immunodeficiency, or pregnancy, in themselves or in their close contacts. Extended to the global population base, approximately 1.5 billion would be at serious risk if smallpox spread worldwide due to a bioterrorist incident, in a scenario exponentially complicated since vaccination is the key variable for containment and control."

As discussed during the Future of Biodetection Systems Workshop, [4] sponsored by Los Alamos in 2006, it is critical that we advance a collaborative One Health global response to these unmet needs.  [5, 6]


Related HRI:UNArts One Health News:

   * World Veterinary Day Promoted on Music Industry News Network: World Veterinary Association, 25 April 2010. Url: www.worldvet.org/node/6276
   * HRI:UNArts - One World, One Health: World Veterinary Day 2010: World Veterinary Association, 24 April 2010. Url: www.worldvet.org/node/6267
   * HRI:UNArts: One Health Initiative Unites Human and Veterinary Medicine: Education News (K-12, Higher Education), 24 April 2010.  Url: www.educationnews.org/pr_releases/61019.html
   * Expanding Human to Veterinary Biomechanics Applications: Science Informer, 15 April 2005. Url: www.scienceinformer.com/AgriculturePR/Veterinary-Biomechanics-Applications.htm
   * Announcements 2004 (20): International Veterinary Public Health Consortium (IVPHC): ProMED: International Society for Infectious Diseases, Archive: 20041012.2781, 12 October 2004. Url:www.promedmail.org
   * International Veterinary Public Health Consortium: World Veterinary Association, October 2004. Url: www.worldvet.org/node/463
   * Announcements 2003 (08): Humanitarian University Consortium: ProMED: International Society for Infectious Diseases, Archive: 20031122.2904, 22 November 2003. Url: www.promedmail.org
   * Agricultural Biosecurity: Department of Public Information (DPI) of the United Nations, 26 January 2002. Url: www.undpi.org/UN-Topics/Agricultural-Biosecurity.html

References:

1. How Ready Are We for Bioterrorism?: New York Times, 26 October 2011. Url: www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/magazine/how-ready-are-we-for-bioterrorism.html
2. We Are Still Not Ready: New York Times, 13 November 2011.  Url: www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/magazine/​reply-all-bioterrorism.html
3.  Preventing a WMD September 11: Humanitarian Resource Institute Biodefense Legal Resource Center, February 2004.  Url: www.humanitarian.net/law/biodefense/wmd911.html
4. The Future of Biodetection Systems - Final Workshop Analysis: The Future of Biodetection Systems Workshop was held last year to bring together industry, academia, national labs, and federal agency personnel in an interactive process, to develop a roadmap for research and development investment in biodetection.  Sponsored by Los Alamos National Laboratory, September 26 & 27 2006. -- Overview: BTACC Pathobiologics International.  Keynote: DNA-based Detection Technologies (Powerpoint): Stephen M.Apatow, Humanitarian University Consortium Graduate Studies Center for Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and Law. Url: www.lanl.gov/bioscience/biodetection.shtml
5. H-II: Stephen Michael Apatow Named Ambassador for Vet2011: 250th Anniversary of the Global Veterinary Profession: Humanitarian Resource Institute, 7 February 2011. Url: www.unarts.org/news/aiie_vet2011272011.html
6. HRI:UNArts: Global Comprehensive Health Organization, One Health Commission Locates to ISU: Humanitarian Resource Institute, 3 March 2011.  Includes Yale School of Medicine: Yale Human Animal Health Project – A Center for “One Health” studies (USA). Url: www.pathobiologics.org/btac/ref/aiie_ohc332011.html

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