BETHESDA, Maryland-On November 1, President Bush announced he will ask congress for $7.1 billion in emergency funding to prepare the country for a possible flu pandemic.
According to Bush, health officials are concerned about the Avian flu. Infected birds have been found in 16 countries and of the 121 people infected, 62 have died.
A pandemic flu is a flu that is transmitted easily from person to person and for which people have little or no natural defense.
The strain of avian flu, known as H5N1, does not easily transfer from person to person, but health officials fear that it may mutate.
“At this moment there is no pandemic influenza in the United States or the world, but if history is our guide there’s reason to be concerned. In the last century, our country and the world have been hit by three influenza pandemics, and viruses from birds contributed to all of them,” said Bush.
Of the $7.1 billion, Bush is calling for $251 million to help other countries train personnel to make plans for detecting and containing outbreaks.
$1.2 billion will buy enough bird flu vaccine for 20 million people.
“A vaccine against the current avian flu virus would likely offer some protection against a pandemic strain and possibly save many lives in the first critical months of an outbreak,” Bush said.
Bush’s plan also asks congress for $2.8 billion to develop a “crash program.” This program would fund technology aiding vaccine makers in producing enough vaccine for all Americans.
$1 billion will go to stockpiling antiviral drugs like Tamiflu. “Antiviral drugs cannot prevent people from contracting the flu, but they can reduce the severity of the illness when taken within 48 hours of getting sick,” said Bush.
Not only would a pandemic cost lives around the world, but Bush feels the economic fallout would be far greater than the cost of his $7.1 billion plan.
Bush cited the outbreak of SARS in rural China. Within a month, SARS spread to 6 continents and 30 countries, including Canada. Over 8,000 people were infected and 800 people died as a result, including dozens in Canada.
According to Bush, the cost of SARS in the Asian Pacific was estimated at $40 billion. The airline industry was hardest hit. Air travel to Asia dropped 45 percent in the year after the SARS outbreak.
“All this was caused by a limited outbreak of a virus that infected thousands and lasted about six months. A global influenza pandemic that infects millions and lasts from one to three years could be far worse,” said Bush.
“It’s my responsibility as the president to take measures now to protect the American people from the possible that human-to-human transmission may occur,” said Bush.