Remarks as Delivered at the Pandemic Influenza Leadership Forum

Thank you for joining us today. I’m delighted that so many of you were able to attend our leadership summit.

The media buzz has died down, but the avian influenza virus has not. Just yesterday, a four-year-old girl in Egypt was diagnosed with avian influenza. A ten-year-old girl in Egypt died of it last week. To date, over 300 people have contracted the disease, and almost 200 have died.

The disease is highly pathogenic, and it continues to spread. We can’t be certain the H5N1 virus will spark a pandemic, but we can be sure that pandemics will happen. They have happened in the past, and they will happen in the future. We would be foolish to assume they won’t.

About a year and a half ago, President Bush mobilized the nation to prepare for a pandemic. Since then, the federal government has made great progress in building up the nation’s defenses and planning for the future.

We have licensed the first H5N1 vaccine for humans and stockpiled enough antiviral medicine to treat 40 million Americans.

We have committed over $1 billion to expand cell-based influenza vaccine production over five years. This investment will make possible a more flexible alternative to egg-based production.

We have awarded $161 million in grants to help expand surveillance programs and bolster clinical research. We have also invested $180 million to help high-risk countries strengthen their surveillance systems.

We have held 50 flu summits around the country. And we have launch a government-wide web site— pandemicflu.gov—and produced and aired a series of television, radio ads, and other materials to alert the public.

We have also launched our first “blog summit” on pandemic preparedeness. Many of you have participated in the summit at blog.pandemicflu.gov. If you haven’t, there’s still time. It will run for another two weeks. I have greatly enjoyed my interactions with you, and thousands of other engaged individuals. I am sure you will find the open dialogue on the site very useful.

Many of our efforts are directed at involving others in pandemic preparedness. That’s why we are here today. Now matter how much the federal government does, there will still be more to do by others because of the unique nature of pandemics.

Pandemics aren’t like hurricanes. Hurricanes strike in one place, do their damage, and then the recovery begins. The whole nation can focus its resources on helping the stricken area out of the disaster. We saw that after Hurricane Katrina.

Pandemics don’t strike just one area. They strike everywhere. Areas hit first can’t depend on relief from elsewhere because the entire country will be affected. Areas that haven’t been hit yet will be preparing their own defenses.

Local preparedness must be the foundation of our national response. Communities that fail to prepare—expecting the federal government to come to the rescue—will be tragically mistaken.

Local leadership is the key. There needs to be preparedness at every level. There is a part for everyone in preparing for a pandemic—from stockpiling necessities to adopting good public health habits. Every county, every business, every school, every church, every household needs a plan. But people won’t plan unless urged to repeatedly by leaders they know and respect.

That’s where you come in.

We are here today to share ideas and best practices on how local leaders can educate communities on the importance of personal preparedness. It’s a message that needs to surround everyone. They need to hear it from their pastors, from their employers, from their physicians, from everyone in a position of responsibility. And they need to keep hearing it. In fact, they need to hear it even more after the news media loses interest.

We don’t know when a pandemic might strike. But we can be sure of two things:

• Everything we do before a pandemic will seem alarmist.
• Everything we do after a pandemic will seem inadequate.

This is the dilemma we face, but it should not stop us from doing what we can to prepare. We need to reach out to everyone with words that inform, but not inflame. We need to encourage everyone to prepare, but not panic.

We probably can’t prevent a pandemic, but we can minimize its impact. A well-prepared response can delay the onset of a pandemic. It can also lessen the severity of a pandemic’s peak.

In the meantime, many of the things we do to prepare for a pandemic will make us safer and healthier:

• The new vaccine technologies we are developing will make it possible for every American to have an annual flu shot.
• The surge capacity we develop in hospitals and communities could be critical in other emergencies.
• And the lessons we learn about the distribution of medication could save lives in a bioterrorism attack.

The federal government alone can’t prepare the nation for a pandemic. Your leadership is a crucial part of our pandemic planning. 

Thank you for your expertise, and for your enthusiasm.

We have an opportunity to become the first generation in history to be prepared for a pandemic. Let’s continue to work toward that goal.

Last revised: March 13, 2008