Bush Seeks 7.1 Billion Dollars From Congress to Prepare for Pandemic Flu

Bush seeks 7.1 billion dollars from Congress to prepare for pandemic flu

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) — US President George W. Bush on Tuesday announced national strategies to prepare for a possible pandemic influenza, asking 7.1 billion US dollars in emergency funding from the Congress.

The figure includes 1.2 billion dollars to buy vaccine to protect 20 million Americans from the H5N1 bird flu virus strain, 2.8 billion dollars to speed the development of new vaccines and 1 billion dollars to stockpile more antiviral drugs.

The H5N1 bird flu has so far infected 121 people and killed 62, but it has spread through bird populations across Asia and has recently reached Europe. Experts fear it could quickly mutate to be easily transmissible among people, causing a pandemic.

During a speech made at the National Institutes of Health, Bush said such a pandemic flu would be a global threat and far more serious than the seasonal flu. The pandemic is not eminent, but the United States must get itself ready.

“Our strategy is designed to meet three critical goals: first, we must detect outbreaks that occur anywhere in the world; second, we must protect the American people by stockpiling vaccines and antiviral drugs, and improve our ability to rapidly produce new vaccines against a pandemic strain; and third, we must be ready to respond at the federal, state and local levels in the event that a pandemic reaches our shores.”

“So to meet all our goals I’m requesting a total of 7.1 billion dollars in emergency funding from the United States Congress.”

The money also includes 583 million dollars for pandemic preparedness, with 100 million dollars for states and local governments to prepare and exercise emergency plans to contain an outbreak.

Bush said the cornerstone of his strategy was to develop new technologies to produce new vaccines quickly.

“By bringing cell culture technology from the research laboratory into the production line, we should be able to produce enough vaccine for every American within six months of the start of a pandemic.”

The president said he was also asking Congress to pass legislation that would reduce liability for makers of life-saving vaccines, removing a great obstacle to domestic vaccine production.

Bush said he would try to get more flu drugs added to the 2.3 million treatment courses the United States has already stockpiled. He mentioned Roche and Gilead Sciences Inc’s Tamiflu, and GlaxoSmithKline’s Relenza, saying flu drugs can help reduce the severity of flu symptoms when taken within 48 hours of getting sick.