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News Release

PRESIDENT'S BUDGET INCLUDES VITAL FOOD SUPPLY PROTECTIONS
Fiscal Year 2004 Proposal Maintains Historic Commitments to Cities, States and Hospitals

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced today that President Bush's fiscal year 2004 budget request builds on the department's commitment to protect the nation's food supply by seeking $116.8 million -- an increase of $19 million, or 19 percent -- for bioterror-related food safety programs at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Overall, the President is requesting $3.6 billion for bioterrorism funding at HHS to enhance the significant steps that HHS has taken since Sept. 11, 2001 to better prepare America for a bioterror attack. Between fiscal year 2002 and fiscal year 2004, HHS has spent or requested $9.2 billion for research, prevention and preparedness.

"We are building on the largest investment in our public health infrastructure in history by making America healthier, safer and better prepared," Secretary Thompson said. "We are ensuring that our food supply is safe by making it easier for state, local and federal authorities to exchange information about pathogens in food, and we will be able to improve food monitoring and inspections throughout America."

Of the $116.8 million in FDA's fiscal year 2004 budget for bioterror-related food safety programs, $20.5 million will be directed toward activities that implement the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002, as well as related activities to protect the food supply. The FDA request directs:

• $5 million toward improving laboratory preparedness by expanding federal, state and local involvement in the Electronic Laboratory Exchange Network, which enables laboratories across the country to exchange information on pathogens in food.
• $5 million to improve the quality of food monitoring and inspections through state contracts and grants.
• $10.5 million to implement a registration system for domestic and foreign food production, handling and storage facilities, as well as a prior notice system for imported food shipments.

These new initiatives complement the steps HHS already has taken to protect the nation's food supply. FDA has hired more than 800 new food safety employees, the vast majority of whom are involved in inspecting food imported into the country. FDA now can conduct 48,000 on-site import inspections per year.

Additionally, FDA last week proposed a new regulation that would require notice be given to the FDA before food is imported into the United States, allowing inspectors to target inspections more effectively to help ensure the safety of food. The FDA also proposed a regulation that would require domestic and foreign food facilities that manufacture, process, pack or hold food in the United States to register with the agency by Dec. 12 of this year, bolstering FDA's ability to regulate the more than 400,000 facilities that deal with food within the United States.

HHS works closely with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to protect the nation's food supply. President Bush's fiscal year 2004 budget request includes a $112 million increase for food safety, homeland security and agricultural protection systems at USDA.

"Last year, we made the largest one-time commitment to the nation's public health infrastructure ever," Secretary Thompson said. "In this budget, we are redoubling and building on our commitments to make America better prepared to respond to any kind of attack or disease outbreak. We are maintaining our commitment to cities and states and strengthening our hospitals, while making an unprecedented investment into developing vaccines and treatments for some of the world's most dangerous pathogens."

Biodefense-related items in the President's HHS budget proposal include:

National Institutes of Health (NIH): The President's request for bioterror research at NIH totals $1.6 billion, a 117 percent increase from the $750 million in the fiscal year 2003 request and $182 million the year before. Research initiatives planned for fiscal year 2004 include developing new therapeutic strategies for blocking the effects of botulism toxin; expanding research to discover how cells in the immune system help regulate immune responses to dangerous microbes; and accelerating the testing of bioterror therapeutics, vaccines and diagnostic tools.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): The public health budget request includes $1.1 billion for CDC bioterror efforts. The majority of this money ($940 million) will support CDC's state and local preparedness program, as well as funds for expanding national planning efforts, upgrading response capacity at CDC, oversight of inter-laboratory transfers of dangerous pathogens and toxins, laboratory safety inspections and anthrax research.

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA): The budget request maintains funding at $618 million, with $518 million to support the third year of HRSA's hospital preparedness program. HRSA also will provide funding for a new program on medical curricula for instruction on the detection and treatment of diseases that can be caused by bioterrorism.

While the overall bioterror budget is $233 million below the fiscal year 2003 budget, this change reflects the completion of a number of one-time expenditures for research laboratories at the CDC, NIH and elsewhere. The entire $3.6 billion request will fund ongoing preparedness and research efforts, an increase of $883 million above fiscal year 2003 for comparable programs.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, HHS has made significant improvements to the nation's public health infrastructure and response capacity. That includes:

• National Pharmaceutical Stockpile: HHS increased the number of Push Packs strategically placed around the country by 50 percent from eight (400 tons) to 12 (600 tons), while increasing the variety of drugs included in the stockpile.
  
  
• Smallpox Vaccine: HHS has acquired enough vaccine for every American, in the event of an emergency. HHS also has accelerated development of a new vaccine.
  
  
• Anthrax Vaccine: HHS has an improved vaccine in development, with $250 million proposed for fiscal year 2003 for acquisition and stockpiling. HHS has enough antibiotics on hand to treat at least 20 million people for 60 days.
  
  
• Health Network: CDC's Health Alert Network will be expanded to reach 90 percent of all county public health agencies this year.
  
  
• Public Health Labs: CDC's Laboratory Response Network will include 235 labs in fiscal year 2004, up from 120 in fiscal year 2002.
  
  
• Commissioned Corps: HHS doubled the number of officers in the Commissioned Corps Readiness Force from 600 to 1,200 in one year -- increasing the capacity to respond and assist to a public health emergency.
  
  
• Disaster Teams: HHS increased the number of personnel in the National Disaster Medical System by 33 percent, from 6,000 to 8,000. These include 53 Disaster Medical teams, 10 Disaster Mortuary teams and four Veterinary Medical teams.
  
  

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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.

Last Revised: February 4, 2003