Citing flu, Sebelius orders review of public-health defenses

By Rob Stein 

Washington Post

WASHINGTON - A top Obama administration official, citing problems with the swine flu vaccination campaign and other problems in preparedness, announced plans yesterday for a major review of the federal government's policies for developing public-health defenses.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said she had ordered the review in part because the swine flu vaccine shortage had highlighted the nation's dependence on antiquated technology.

"We'll look for the fastest ways to move to new technologies that will let us quickly produce countermeasures that are more dependable and more robust," Sebelius said in prepared remarks to the American Medical Association's Third National Congress on Health System Readiness, which is being held in Washington. "Not just for flu and not just for infectious diseases, but for all the public-health threats we face today."

The review will be led by Nicole Lurie, the assistant secretary for preparedness and response, and will be complete by "early next year," Sebelius said.

"We face a wider range of public-health threats than ever before," Sebelius said. "It could be anthrax delivered in an envelope. It could be a dirty bomb set off in a subway car."

The nation's ability to respond to such threats depends not only on having enough hospital beds, emergency rooms, doctors, and equipment such as masks and ventilators, but also on state-of-the-art diagnostic tests, medications, and vaccines, she said.

But these countermeasures "can often take years to discover, develop, manufacture, and distribute," she said. "Like a lot of countries, we've often failed to make the kind of long-term investments in countermeasures we need to stay safe."

Sebelius defended the government's response to H1N1, noting that the virus was identified quickly, diagnostic tests were produced and distributed rapidly, and the vaccine program was launched as soon as possible. At least 69 million doses of vaccine are now available. But the vaccine was produced much more slowly than officials hoped and predicted. The lag is a clear example of the shortcomings of today's technologies, she said.

Progress had been made, she said. A new vaccine factory that can make flu vaccine using cells instead of eggs opened last week in Holly Springs, N.C., after Novartis received more than $400 million in federal funding.

Source: Washington Post (via Philidelphia Inquirer)