WASHINGTON — Preparing for the possibility of a devastating flu pandemic, President Bush outlined a $7.1-billion plan Tuesday to provide enough vaccine for the nation and to create stockpiles of drugs to treat those who become infected.
"There is no pandemic flu in our country, or in the world, at this time," Bush said in a speech at the National Institutes of Health. "But if we wait for a pandemic to appear, it will be too late to prepare and ... many lives could be needlessly lost."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday November 03, 2005 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 48 words Type of Material: Correction
Flu plan -- An article in Wednesday's Section A about President Bush's flu pandemic preparations said the plan would not begin until 2010. In fact, the capability to vaccinate the entire U.S. population would not be available until 2010, but other elements of the plan take effect immediately.
Public health experts said it was only a matter of time before a super-flu developed with the potential to spread around the globe and kill millions of people.
Pandemics occur when a viral strain to which humans have no immunity mutates and becomes easily transmissible from person to person. Such viruses commonly appear first among birds, and scientists are closely tracking an especially virulent strain -- called H5N1 -- first identified in China in 1996. That strain has killed 62 people.
Some elements of Bush's plan, which would not begin until 2010, are expected to be controversial.
For example, it would protect vaccine manufacturers from liability lawsuits but offer no compensation for individuals who suffered serious reactions to a vaccine.
And states would be responsible for purchasing about 40% of the antiviral stockpile needed to safeguard their residents, which could lead to uneven levels of coverage. Several critics said Tuesday that the $100 million the president would allocate for state preparedness and planning was not enough.
"You can pump billions into vaccine development, but if you don't have the local infrastructure to administer the vaccines, that's a problem," said Dr. Christian Sandrock, a pulmonary and infectious disease specialist at UC Davis Medical Center who is advising California officials on flu preparedness.
Public health experts also expressed concern that the plan would place the Department of Homeland Security -- not the Department of Health and Human Services -- in overall command of the government's response should a pandemic erupt. Homeland Security oversaw the much-criticized federal response to Hurricane Katrina.
"When the emergency occurs," said Kim Elliott, deputy director of the nonprofit, nonpartisan Trust for America's Health, "it would be handed to folks most of whom have not been trained on the public health aspects."
