The nation could deal with a bioterrorist attack, but it could be better prepared, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson and other lawmakers told a Senate appropriations committee October 3.

Thompson, along with Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Bill Frist (R-TN), called on the Senate appropriations subcommittee that oversees the HHS budget to come up with more funding to better enable the nation's healthcare system to deal with prevention, detection, and treatment of a bioterrorist incident.

"Yes, we need to do more on bioterrorism, but we are prepared to respond," Thompson told the panel.

"We are vulnerable, not because we are unprepared, but because we are underprepared," Frist agreed.

Frist and Kennedy, who in 2000 pushed a bioterrorism preparedness bill into law, laid out a proposal to fund the measure, calling for an increase of $1.4 billion over the current $400 million being spent now.

Thompson said the White House Office of Management and Budget is still reviewing his dollar request, but he told Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd (D-WV) that the department could use "around $800 million" more immediately.

Kennedy and Frist listed as their top priority -- and Thompson concurred -- funds to strengthen state and local public health agencies. "Without the front line, nothing else can work," Frist said.

Indeed, later in the hearing, Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, Iowa's state epidemiologist, said she has no good way to contact health officials in the rest of the state outside of normal business hours.

"Two years ago, when a petting zoo bear was diagnosed with rabies on a Saturday, there were several health departments with victims living in their counties that I could not contact until the next Monday morning when their offices opened," she said.

Frist and Kennedy also want to spend $295 million to help hospitals develop "surge capacity" to deal with an influx of patients in case of an attack.

Also high on the list is beefing up food inspections at the Food and Drug Administration, where Thompson said 750 inspectors are responsible for monitoring 55,000 different sites. "This is one area in which we must be more vigilant," said Thompson, because disease-causing agents can easily be spread through the food supply.

Another priority is developing vaccines and treatments for potential bioterrorism agents. Thompson announced at the hearing that the department, working with the private sector, is accelerating its next-generation smallpox vaccine, with 40 million doses now scheduled to be available by the end of next year.

Reuters, Washington Oct 03, 2001