bioterrorism preparedness and TCM

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

 

I came across this today. What can practitioners do in the face of bioterrorism

threats? When I read this, I see how clearly the US government embraces western

medicine. Is there a place for CM in addressing bioterrorism? Or are we more

likely to be cleaning up the mess of mass WM treatments for these diseases if

they occur, God forbid?

 

 

 

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Fact Sheet

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, July 21, 2004

 

Contact: HHS Press Office

(202) 690-6343

HHS Fact Sheet--Project Bioshield

President Bush today signed into law Project BioShield, which provides new tools

to improve medical countermeasures protecting Americans against a chemical,

biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) attack.

 

The President first proposed Project BioShield in his 2003 State of the Union

address and Congress approved it last week.

 

Project BioShield is a comprehensive effort overseen jointly by Secretary

Thompson and Secretary Ridge, and involving other Federal agencies as

appropriate, to develop and make available modern, effective drugs and vaccines

to protect against attack by CBRN weapons. Project BioShield will:

Ensure that resources are available to pay for “next-generation” medical

countermeasures. Project BioShield will allow the government to buy improved

vaccines or drugs. The fiscal year 2004 appropriation for the Department of

Homeland Security included $5.6 billion over 10 years for the purchase of next

generation countermeasures against anthrax and smallpox as well as other CBRN

agents.

Expedite the conduct of NIH research and development on medical

countermeasures based on the most promising recent scientific discoveries.

Give FDA the ability to make promising treatments quickly available in

emergency situations – this tightly controlled new authority will enable access

to the best available treatments in the event of a crisis.

 

As the result of the Project BioShield legislation, the administration has

already begun the process of acquiring several new medical countermeasures:

 

75 million doses of a second generation anthrax vaccine to become available

for stockpiling beginning next year.

New medical treatments for anthrax directed at neutralizing the effects of

anthrax toxin.

Polyvalent botulinum antitoxin,

A safer second generation smallpox vaccine.

Initial evaluation of treatments for radiation and chemical weapons exposure.

 

Secretary Thompson has also directed the FDA to prepare guidelines and

procedures for implementing the emergency use authorization included in the

legislation should it be needed.

 

The administration will start taking new steps today -- armed with these new

authorities -- to swiftly focus research on the most vexing problems and ensure

rapid translation of laboratory findings into new CBRN medical countermeasures.

Today Secretary Thompson will direct NIH to:

 

Launch a multi-year initiative for Project BioShield Treatments for

Biological Agents. While most vaccines provide protection prior to exposure to

the biological agent, therapeutics offer protection after exposure and hence are

particularly important in the homeland security context. This initiative will be

focused on the most dangerous biological pathogens and the toxins they produce.

 

Launch a multi-year initiative to create Project BioShield Treatments for

Radiation Poisoning. This initiative will focus on practical methods to vastly

improve current treatments for radiation poisoning from exposure to a nuclear or

radiological attack.

 

Expedite Grant Proposals and Awards. Before BioShield, the grant process

associated with biodefense medical research took 18 to 24 months. With the new

authorities provided by BioShield, HHS estimates this process will take about 6

months.

 

Today, Secretary Thompson will also direct the use of BioShield authorities to

create several new positions to assure that basic scientific discoveries are

translated as swiftly as possible into usable products to protect Americans.

Secretary Thompson will create senior positions for countermeasure product

development in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

(NIAID), the lead Institute for Project BioShield implementation at the National

Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH is the nation’s premier biomedical research

institution. Complementing this scientific excellence with individuals

experienced in product development will ensure that the nation secures rapid

benefit from its investments in bioterrorism-related R & D. Project BioShield

enables hiring this needed expertise quickly, compressing the usual hiring

process for 12 to 18 months to about 6 months.

 

The new authorities also will be used to reduce the time to acquire critical

materials and services for NIAID research programs, including the program on

medical countermeasures against botulism toxin, a potentially deadly pathogen,

particularly when put into food. The BioShield authorities will speed the

development of countermeasures by reducing procurement time from 18 to 24 months

to 4 to 6 months.

 

A BROAD RECORD OF PROGRESS

 

Project BioShield builds on remarkable progress across the board to strengthen

the nation’s protections against a CBRN attack. The administration has:

 

Greatly increased the current generation medical countermeasures stockpiled for

use against CBRN attack.

 

Increased the size of the Strategic National Stockpile five-fold since 2001,

including increasing the amount of antibiotics able to treat exposure to

anthrax, securing enough smallpox vaccine for every individual in the United

States, as well as increasing the number of treatments available for radiation

poisoning, chemical agent exposure and a variety of other biological pathogens.

 

Greatly strengthened the nation’s ability to use these countermeasures swiftly

and effectively.

 

Initiated the Cities Readiness Initiative to work with 21 metropolitan areas

to increase their ability to deliver antibiotics effectively; began forward

deploying chemical antidote kits under the ChemPack program, with the objective

of placing 2,300 kits across all 50 states by January 2006; ensured that initial

stockpile materials could be anywhere in the United States within 12 hours, with

additional materials following within 36 hours, and required that every state

outline their plans to receive and distribute the materials swiftly.

 

Vastly increased the R & D monies devoted to developing cutting-edge medical

countermeasures.

 

Biodefense medical research and development at the NIH has been funded at

more than $1.5 billion per year since fiscal year 2003, 30 times the investment

in fiscal year 2001. NIH researchers are developing and evaluating new and

improved treatments and vaccines against smallpox, anthrax, and, for the first

time, Ebola, as well as other dangerous pathogens. This funding will cultivate

and sustain a national network of researchers including the eight new Regional

Centers of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research

(RCE).

 

Moved swiftly to harvest the best research advances, develop improved products

aaand get them into the stockpile.

 

HHS in coordination with DHS will contract for the production and stockpiling

of 75 million doses of a second generation anthrax vaccine. This vaccine, made

by recombinant technology, high volume fermentation and modern protein

purification methods will become available for stockpiling beginning next year.

Within the next month, HHS will request proposals for the acquisition of new

medical treatments for anthrax directed at neutralizing the effects of anthrax

toxin. These new treatments when used in conjunction with antibiotics are

expected to reduce the mortality from inhalation anthrax.

Actions are being taken to apply Project BioShield funds to the production

and stockpiling of polyvalent botulinum antitoxin, a safer second generation

smallpox vaccine, and treatments for radiation exposure and exposure to chemical

weapons.

 

Greatly strengthened the nation’s ability to detect a bioattack through the

first-ever wide scale deployment of environmental detectors, under the Biowatch

program.

 

These surveillance activities would be further strengthened with approval of

the Biosurveillance Initiative, which seeks $274 million in the President’s

fiscal year 2005 budget request. The initiative extends Biowatch detector

coverage and extends and expands human, plant and animal health and disease

surveillance capabilities in the Departments of Health and Human Services,

Agriculture and Homeland Security, to provide the earliest possible warning and

characterization of a bioattack.

 

Greatly strengthened links between expert science and the intelligence and law

enforcement communities.

 

The Department of Homeland Security has created the National Biodefense

Analysis and Countermeasure Center to systematically apply, for the first time,

cutting edge science to the study of classified intelligence about foreign

weapons programs and develop first-class forensics in support of law enforcement

investigations of biological crimes like the 2001 anthrax letters attack.

 

Initiated new agriculture and food programs to defend against disease, pest, or

poisonous agents that could be intentionally delivered by acts of terrorism and

cause catastrophic health and economic effects.

 

The President’s fiscal year 2005 budget contains $567 million (an increase of

$372 million) to secure and defend our agriculture and food systems.

 

BIOSHIELD IS PART OF A STRATEGIC NATIONAL PLAN

 

President Bush recently signed Biodefense for the 21st Century, a presidential

directive that provides a comprehensive framework for biodefense, that specifies

roles and responsibilities, and that also fully integrates the programs and

efforts of various Federal communities – national security, medical, public

health, intelligence, diplomatic, agricultural and law enforcement – into a

sustained and focused national effort against biological weapons threats.

 

The framework provides specific directives to cabinet officers to further

strengthen the significant gains put in place over the past three years. It

will, for example, spur new progress in improving our intelligence capabilities

against foreign biological weapons programs and strengthening our defenses

against novel or genetically modified agents.

 

 

< wrote:

, " " <zrosenbe@s...>

wrote:

>

> There is a large grey area between total cure and palliation. The

> Nan Jing-based system I learned (that was inspired by Michael

> Broffman's work) looks at chronic diseases as having a specific course

> of multi-factorial development (including, as you mentioned, taxation,

> diet, overuse of medications).

 

I think we are in agreement here.

 

 

 

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