October 11, 2005

Environment

Preparing for a Flu Outbreak II

Carroll Andrew Morse

A Projo editorial reports that the Senate has approved about 4 billion dollars �for vaccine development, among other things� in anticipation of a possible avian flu outbreak. The appropriation was attached as an amendment to this year�s defense appropriation. Senator Reed was one of the sponsors of the amendment.

Here is the breakdown of the spending...

Stockpiling of antivirals and necessary medical supplies $3,080,000,000
Global surveillance relating to avian flu $33,000,000
Increase the national investment in domestic vaccine infrastructure including development and research $125,000,000
Additional grants to state and local public health agencies for emergency preparedness, to increase funding for emergency preparedness centers, and to expand hospital surge capacity $600,000,000
Risk communication and outreach to providers, businesses, and to the American public $75,000,000

The numbers beg a few reasonable questions�

1. How much of the $3,080,000,000 is wasted if the outbreak doesn�t occur this year? I know we need to be ready with a response to what could be an immediate crisis, but�

2. Wouldn't we better off investing more in the �domestic vaccine infrastructure� so we can quickly produce lots of vaccines, once we know exactly what we are dealing with if an epidemic begins? Given that flu strains mutate, spending $3 billion for today, but only $125 million for tomorrow doesn�t seem entirely rational.

3. $600,000,000 of taxpayer money is returned to local communities for emergency preparedness. But where would that money have gone in the absence of the present crisis? Back to local communities? I doubt it. This item is an argument for reducing the federal tax burden so that people can afford the local services they need.

4. $33,000,000 for �Global surveillance relating to avain flu�; $38,000,000 for bike paths in Rhode Island alone. Do I have to explain the problem here?

5:22 PM