Public Health Executive Explores Making Vaccines Available to Public
For Immediate Release
October 9, 2001
Contact: Media Relations
Ph: 202-777-2436
media.relations@apha.org
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 - The executive director of the American Public Health Association, Mohammad N. Akhter, MD, MPH, today told a Senate committee that a national group of experts should be formed immediately to study the risks and benefits of making smallpox and anthrax vaccines available to the population at large in the event of a bioterrorist attack. Dr. Akhter made his remarks today while testifying before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
"I was born and raised on the Indian subcontinent. I have lived through the outbreaks of smallpox, malaria, typhoid, Hepatitis A and many other diseases," testified Dr. Akhter, former Public Health Commissioner in Washington, DC. "When the risk is high, we must re-evaluate our position about making vaccines available to the public."
Dr. Akhter said experts from the medical, scientific and intelligence communities should serve on the national committee to assess the risks and to "…protect our people from the most common agents that could be used against us by a terrorist."
He also outlined the steps needed to strengthen the public health infrastructure to prepare for, prevent, detect and respond to a bioterrorist event:
Preventing a Bioterrorist Event is Preferable to Responding to One
- Links must be established between the intelligence community and public health officials on a routine basis to discern the actual attack, eliminate the response lag-time of the agent's incubation period, and thereby prevent casualties.
- Public health must be included in the intelligence process, and given appropriate clearance to review suspicious occurrences and threats much earlier in the process.
- Establish a new segment of the intelligence community devoted to detecting bioterrorist threats.
Communication and Coordination
- Establish linkages among emergency managers, local health departments, clinics and hospitals so that critical data in an emergency situation can travel seamlessly to identify, contain and respond to an emergency in the most efficient way possible.
- Take into account that about 10 percent of the 3,000 local health departments in the United States do not have e-mail.
- Provide access to the public health network 24-hours a day.
Training and Expansion of the Public Health Workforce and Infrastructure
- CDC must expand its capacity to respond to more than one event.
- CDC should integrate into the Health and Human Services regional system, establishing a new layer of workforce and supporting capacity regionally.
- Every state should have essential epidemiology personnel in place.
Training of the Medical Workforce and Enhancing Institutional Capacity
- Enhancing medical personnel's technical expertise and knowledge of a broader array of health threats is of paramount importance at this time.
- Increase the capacity of our hospitals to accommodate a large number of patients.
- Train personnel who can diagnose and treat rare diseases.
- Maintain a sufficient inventory of essential vaccines and drugs, and develop more surge capacities on a daily basis.
The Safety of our Food Supply
- Increase the number of inspectors employed to safeguard our food supply.
- Designate a single federal agency to address food safety.
The American Public Health Association is the oldest and largest organization of public health professionals and represents more than 50,000 members from over 50 public health occupations.
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