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Country wasn't ready for swine flu, group says
Congressional subcommittee criticizes government's preparation for outbreak
William Douglas - McClatchy Newspapers
Issue date: 10/29/09 Section: World News
WASHINGTON (MCT) - The federal government's preparedness for the H1N1, or swine flu, pandemic that has claimed for more than 1,000 lives nationwide was inadequate and incomplete, a congressional subcommittee said Tuesday.
Both Democratic and Republican members of the subcommittee stopped short of blaming President Barack Obama's administration, but they made it clear they expect improved handling of the pandemic in the near future. The House of Representatives panel was the Homeland Security subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity & Science and Technology.
The panel's hearing came in the wake of Obama declaring last Friday that the swine flu outbreak is a national emergency, a procedural move that allows health care providers to speed treatment.
"Our early warning and detection systems were inadequate," said Rep. Yvette Clark (D-N.Y.), the subcommittee's chairwoman. "Some key planning activities were incomplete; we didn't have a good approach to provide health care under pandemic conditions; and levels of preparedness for pandemic influenza were unclear. Unfortunately, our failure to develop these systems, activities and policies cost us during the response."
Officials from the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency testified that federal agencies are aggressively monitoring and responding to an illness that's being heavily reported in 46 states.
However, the agency representatives acknowledged the federal government had to adjust its response because it had been preparing since 2005 to combat avian, or bird, flu, not the newer H1N1 strain.
"We learned this past spring that much of what actually occurred in the H1N1 outbreak did not align with prior avian flu planning," the agency representatives said collectively in written testimony. "Since the spring, DHS has led interagency efforts to develop H1N1-specific preparedness and response planning activities."
Both Democratic and Republican members of the subcommittee stopped short of blaming President Barack Obama's administration, but they made it clear they expect improved handling of the pandemic in the near future. The House of Representatives panel was the Homeland Security subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity & Science and Technology.
The panel's hearing came in the wake of Obama declaring last Friday that the swine flu outbreak is a national emergency, a procedural move that allows health care providers to speed treatment.
"Our early warning and detection systems were inadequate," said Rep. Yvette Clark (D-N.Y.), the subcommittee's chairwoman. "Some key planning activities were incomplete; we didn't have a good approach to provide health care under pandemic conditions; and levels of preparedness for pandemic influenza were unclear. Unfortunately, our failure to develop these systems, activities and policies cost us during the response."
Officials from the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency testified that federal agencies are aggressively monitoring and responding to an illness that's being heavily reported in 46 states.
However, the agency representatives acknowledged the federal government had to adjust its response because it had been preparing since 2005 to combat avian, or bird, flu, not the newer H1N1 strain.
"We learned this past spring that much of what actually occurred in the H1N1 outbreak did not align with prior avian flu planning," the agency representatives said collectively in written testimony. "Since the spring, DHS has led interagency efforts to develop H1N1-specific preparedness and response planning activities."
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Sean Rushforth
posted 10/29/09 @ 10:08 AM CST
The department of health have launch a campaign to encourage NHS staff to have the new swine flu vaccine as concerns over its safety still linger Swine Flu UK
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