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REMARKS BY: TOMMY G. THOMPSON,SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICESPLACE: Press Conference: Launch of the PhRMA Literature Distribution Initiative Washington, D.C. DATE: April 11, 2002
Good morning, and thank you so very much, everyone, for coming. We have an exciting announcement to make today, and I appreciate all of you being here.
Right after the attacks of September 11th, PhRMA leaders came to my office to volunteer whatever drugs, researchers and physicians they could to help us address the public health needs we were facing. This was an extraordinary gesture, and I will never forget it. And then I spoke to PhRMA leaders about what we were doing to prepare.
We have made great strides in preparing America for any future bioterror event as we have partnered together. Our relationship is a wonderful example of the kind of public-private partnership that is so important to the health and well-being of every American.
Today, PhRMA is taking another major step toward helping America prepare even more fully for a bioterrorist attack. Four of America's leading pharmaceutical companies -- Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly and Pharmacia -- are beginning a pilot program in which their sales reps will distribute thousands of reference guides on how to detect and treat anthrax in patients to doctors and other caregivers in 13 cities.
The literature, which has been developed by PhRMA using information from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, contains full-color photographs of types of anthrax in its various stages and also contains clear explanations of what to look for and how to treat victims.
This program provides a model that can be easily replicated and expanded to include information on other diseases and public health emergencies.
PhRMA's efforts will supplement what we already do at the Department of Health and Human Services and can only help our nation become more fully prepared to combat bioterrorist attacks
For example, CDC --
In addition, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, an agency within HHS, initiated a new Web site to teach hospital-based physicians and nurses how to diagnose and treat rare infections and exposures to bioterrorist agents such as anthrax and smallpox.
The site was designed by researchers in the Center for Disaster Preparedness at the University of Alabama at Birmingham under a contract from AHRQ. It is the first of its kind to offer free continuing education credits in bioterrorism preparedness to clinicians.
The site offers online courses emergency department clinicians, including physicians, nurses, radiologists, pathologists and infection control practitioners. You can check it out at www.bioterrorism.uab.edu.
I should also note that PhRMA announced just a few days ago that more than 100 firms are at work developing 256 medicines and vaccines for infectious diseases. Some of these firms are working with the Department of Defense as they consider what kinds of bio-agents our troops might confront abroad.
When pharmaceutical firms distribute CDC material to health care providers . and when America's leading pharmaceutical firms go to work preparing for infectious disease outbreaks with new vaccines and drugs . we're seeing the kind of public-private partnership the American people need now more than ever. It's a smart partnership, one that will provide another outlet for doctors to learn all they can about public health issues.
We in the Bush Administration are doing everything we can to help our country prepare for what might happen should our adversaries strike again. Earlier this year, we released $1.1 billion to the states to help them strengthen their capacity to respond to bioterrorism and other public health emergencies resulting from terrorism.
To prepare further, President Bush and I are requesting an additional $4.3 billion -- an increase of 45 percent over the current fiscal year -- to support a wide variety of critical activities to prevent, identify and respond to incidents of bioterrorism.
Both of these are the largest one-time investments in America's public health system, ever. President Bush and I are committed to ensuring that doctors, hospitals, communities and states are as prepared as possible to meet any emergency that should arise.
Thank you very much.
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