Mr. AKAKA:

Mr. President, I rise to make a few remarks regarding commemoration of World Health Day by the World Health Organization (WHO).  On Saturday, April 7^th 2007, WHO again commemorated its 1948 founding with the annual World Health Day.  This year's theme is international health security.

In the words of WHO, "Threats to health know no borders."

Globalization, characterized by increased mobility of populations and the emergence of new, highly contagious diseases, make us increasingly vulnerable to pandemics and other health crises. Diseases such as highly pathogenic avian influenza, or "bird flu", and severe acute respiratory syndrome ,or "SARS", have entered our public health and security vocabulary. They are worthy of serious study, focus, and action. The spread of these and other virulent diseases and the potentially cataclysmic impact of a pandemic on countries around the world and here in the U.S. reminds us all of the critical need for adequate preparedness and continued awareness of threats to the health and well-being of Americans and people around the world.

We need a strategy to handle a pandemic flu outbreak, one that includes a multi-layered and multinational approach to detecting and isolating viruses before they can spread. At my request, the Government Accountability Office has undertaken several investigations into how best to prepare for a possible pandemic flu outbreak. The first line of protection should be to deploy overseas public health specialists and veterinarians to detect a virus in its early stages. We need to provide more international assistance to countries least able to defend themselves. At the same time, DHS should develop sophisticated response plans to maintain critical services, such as water, power, transportation, and medical and financial services, in the event a pandemic forces the nation to adopt a quarantine strategy.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has established a global disease protection program and DHS has created a new Office of Health Affairs that will bring together medical readiness and biological defense activities, including BioWatch. However, I remain concerned about the level of coordination between these and other domestic actors regarding pandemic planning. As chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Management, the Federal Workforce and the District of Columbia under the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, I hope to address this and other issues related to pandemic planning and response so that the U.S. is prepared for any natural or man-made attack, including a pandemic flu.

The mutation of avian influenza, a zoonotic disease that originated in birds but has since been transmitted to humans, is a high-profile reminder that we cannot cease our efforts to prepare for and respond to health crises. Since the H5N1 strain of bird flu was first detected in 1997, the threat has not abated. Of the 291 confirmed cases of bird flu reported to the WHO since that time, more than half, 171, have resulted in death. While these numbers may not seem large or significant, they are a warning signal that avian flu has mutated and continues to spread. As it does, it adapts and can become even more deadly. In our interdependent and highly mobile world, we are never immune and, as such, we cannot be complacent.

For example, my home state of Hawaii lies at the cross-roads between Asia and the continental United States. Nearly two million people visit Hawaii every year from Asia. Given the large number of confirmed cases of avian influenza in Asia, it is easy to understand why Hawaii continues to take bird flu and pandemic planning very seriously. Unfortunately, this disease shows no signs of abating. According to the World Health Organization, just this month, the Cambodian Ministry of Health confirmed the country's seventh case of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus. It is the first case to be confirmed in humans in Cambodia in 2007. On April 7^th, avian flu claimed the life of a 74^th victim in Indonesia, while on April 11^th, Egypt confirmed the death of a 15 year old girl in Cairo, its 14^th victim from avian flu.

But we must also remember that pandemic flu is not the only risk to human health. To coincide with World Health Day 2007, the WHO released a report entitled "Invest in Health, Build a Safer Future". In it, the WHO lists eight key issues linked to international health security. Highly contagious diseases is certainly one of those issues, but also included are the threat of chemical, radioactive and biological terror threats, the threat of public health dangers on economic stability, and building health security, to include a framework fo collaboration laid out by the International Health Regulations (IHRs) and a number of surveillance networks that can provide an early-warning and response system.

I commend the WHO for its ongoing efforts to raise awareness of the need to work towards international health security and to continue to address the threat of highly contagious disease, chemical, biological and radiological terrorism and the economic impact of pandemic disease. Global health is no longer just a matter of ensuring the vitality, economic stability and environments of the U.S. and countries around the world. It is about security. It is about homeland security. In commemorating World Health Day 2007, WHO Director General Margaret Chan put a fine point on this notion by stating that "A foreign agent that invades a sovereign territory, evades detection, kills civilians and disrupts the economy is a security threat by most definitions....The best defense against emerging and epidemic-prone diseases is not passive barriers at borders, airports and seaports. It is proactive risk management that seeks to detect an outbreak early and stop it at its source." Through a continuing focus on an all-hazards approach, a more comprehensive approach to defending our homeland, we can help mitigate the universal vulnerability the U.S. and other countries face against large-scale health catastrophes.

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