12 April 2002
CDC, Pharmaceutical Companies Counter Bioterror Threat
(Joint plan announced to educate heath care providers about anthrax)
(1,700)
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and U.S.
pharmaceutical manufacturers are joining forces to better educate
health care providers about how to recognize and respond to a
bioterror attack.
In an April 11 news conference in Washington, representatives of the
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and U.S.
Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson explained that
as many as 80,000 drug company representatives across the country
could become involved in the distribution of CDC information about
bioterrorism.
"When pharmaceutical firms distribute CDC material to health care
providers and when America's leading pharmaceutical firms go to work
preparing for infectious disease outbreaks with new vaccines and
drugs, we're seeing the kind of public-private partnership the
American people need now more than ever," said Thompson at the press
conference. "It's a smart partnership, one that will provide another
outlet for doctors to learn all they can about public health issues."
The first guide to be distributed describes the symptoms and treatment
for anthrax. Spores of this sometimes-fatal disease were sent through
the U.S. mails in a bioterror attack late last year which was
primarily centered in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Florida.
Five people died, and hundreds who were potentially exposed to the
disease took antibiotics as a precautionary measure.
As director of the D.C. Department of Health, Dr. Ivan Walks was on
the front lines of that episode. At the April 11 press conference he
emphasized the value of the new CDC-PhRMA effort. "These informational
guides provided by America's pharmaceutical companies will serve as a
powerful reference tool and will help us to address our patients'
fears in a timely manner," he said.
Further information is available at http://www.homelandhealth.com/
Following are excerpts from the HHS and PhRMA announcements:
(begin excerpt)
TOMMY G. THOMPSON, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Press Conference
The Launch of the PhRMA Literature Distribution Initiative
Washington, D.C.
April 11, 2002
"Bioterrism Partnership"
Good morning, and thank you so very much, everyone, for coming. We
have an exciting announcement to make today, and I appreciate all of
you being here.
Right after the attacks of September 11th, PhRMA leaders came to my
office to volunteer whatever drugs, researchers and physicians they
could to help us address the public health needs we were facing. This
was an extraordinary gesture, and I will never forget it. And then I
spoke to PhRMA leaders about what we were doing to prepare.
We have made great strides in preparing America for any future
bioterror event as we have partnered together. Our relationship is a
wonderful example of the kind of public-private partnership that is so
important to the health and well-being of every American.
Today, PhRMA is taking another major step toward helping America
prepare even more fully for a bioterrorist attack. Four of America's
leading pharmaceutical companies - Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly
and Pharmacia - are beginning a pilot program in which their sales
reps will distribute thousands of reference guides on how to detect
and treat anthrax in patients to doctors and other caregivers in 13
cities.
The literature, which has been developed by PhRMA using information
from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, contains
full-color photographs of types of anthrax in its various stages and
also contains clear explanations of what to look for and how to treat
victims.
This program provides a model that can be easily replicated and
expanded to include information on other diseases and public health
emergencies.
PhRMA's efforts will supplement what we already do at the Department
of Health and Human Services and can only help our nation become more
fully prepared to combat bioterrorist attacks.
For example, the CDC
- Publishes breaking reports on bioterror and public health-related
news in its "Morbidity Mortality Weekly Reports;"
--Produces fact sheets, guidelines, news briefs and announcements on
its Web site, which has received more than six million visits and 14
million requests for information since September 11th;
--And video and satellite broadcasts about bioterrorism are available
on-line via the CDC Web site.
In addition, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, an agency
within H-H-S, initiated a new Web site to teach hospital-based
physicians and nurses how to diagnose and treat rare infections and
exposures to bioterrorist agents such as anthrax and smallpox. . . .
The site offers online courses emergency department clinicians,
including physicians, nurses, radiologists, pathologists and infection
control practitioners. You can check it out at
www.bioterrorism.uab.edu.
I should also note that PhRMA announced just a few days ago that more
than 100 firms are at work developing 256 medicines and vaccines for
infectious diseases. Some of these firms are working with the
Department of Defense as they consider what kinds of bio-agents our
troops might confront abroad.
When pharmaceutical firms distribute CDC material to health care
providers and when America's leading pharmaceutical firms go to work
preparing for infectious disease outbreaks with new vaccines and drugs
we're seeing the kind of public-private partnership the American
people need now more than ever. It's a smart partnership, one that
will provide another outlet for doctors to learn all they can about
public health issues.
We in the Bush Administration are doing everything we can to help our
country prepare for what might happen should our adversaries strike
again. Earlier this year, we released $1.1 billion to the states to
help them strengthen their capacity to respond to bioterrorism and
other public health emergencies resulting from terrorism.
To prepare further, President Bush and I are requesting an additional
$4.3 billion - an increase of 45 percent over the current fiscal year
- to support a wide variety of critical activities to prevent,
identify and respond to incidents of bioterrorism.
Both of these are the largest one-time investments in America's public
health system, ever. President Bush and I are committed to ensuring
that doctors, hospitals, communities and states are as prepared as
possible to meet any emergency that should arise.
Thank you very much.
(end excerpt)
(begin excerpt)
PHARMECUTICAL RESEARCH AND MANUFACTURERS OF AMERICA
America's Pharmaceutical Companies Partner With Federal Government to
Launch Education Program on Bioterrorist Threats
Washington, D.C. -- At a press conference today at the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services, Secretary Tommy G. Thompson,
representatives of America's pharmaceutical companies and other health
care officials announced the launch of a national educational program
for health care providers to help them better identify and treat
bioterrorism threats such as anthrax.
The new program, which begins today as a pilot project in 13 cities,
brings together the most authoritative health information from the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the
distribution resources of pharmaceutical companies.
Company sales representatives, who routinely visit health care
providers, will deliver the new education guides -- the first on the
topic of anthrax diagnosis and treatment -- to doctors' offices,
hospitals, health care clinics and pharmacies.
"With more than 80,000 sales representatives across the country, the
pharmaceutical industry has the ability to share important health
information with doctors and other health care providers in all 50
states very quickly," said Alan F. Holmer, President of the
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). "We look
forward to building on this program and want the federal government to
call on us as a resource as often as necessary in the on-going effort
to protect the public health. . . ."
Four pharmaceutical companies -- Bayer Corporation, GlaxoSmithKline,
Eli Lilly and Company, and Pharmacia Corporation -- will begin the
initial roll-out by distributing 20,000 reference guides in 13 cities
(Albany, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, District of Columbia, Hartford,
Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, Philadelphia, Phoenix and
Tampa). The initial guide outlines the three types of anthrax
infections: cutaneous (skin), gastrointestinal and inhalation and
discusses the symptoms and treatments for each.
The education guides being produced by PhRMA in conjunction with the
CDC are designed to help health care providers answer questions posed
by their patients and by others in the health care field. The guides
are not intended to replace other forms of diagnosis or treatment but
rather to provide health care providers with a baseline of clear,
concise information that can assist them in their jobs.
"In order to fight bioterrorism, health care providers must be armed
with the most accurate and current information available," said Dr.
Michael Friedman, PhRMA's Chief Medical Officer for Biomedical
Preparedness and a Senior Vice President at Pharmacia Corporation.
"Knowledge is our best weapon against this invisible enemy."
Dr. Ivan Walks, director of the D.C. Department of Health, also
participated in today's press conference. Dr. Walks spoke of the
District government's first-hand experience with a biological attack
and the effects on the public's confidence.
"Since the first biological terror attacks, fears concerning
bioterrorism pathogens have increased," said Dr. Walks. "As a doctor
and the chief public health official in our nation's capital, I want
to ease patients' concerns, but we can only assuage their fears by
providing the health care community and the lay community with up to
date, reliable and accurate information. These informational guides
provided by America's pharmaceutical companies will serve as a
powerful reference tool and will help us to address our patients'
fears in a timely manner."
A copy of the guide as well as additional information about the
pharmaceutical industry's contributions to the fight against
bioterrorism can be found on HomelandHealth.com, a comprehensive web
site offering current, reliable information on bioterrorism
preparedness in America. HomelandHealth.com, sponsored by America's
pharmaceutical companies, offers hundreds of pages of accurate,
up-to-date information and news for consumers, healthcare
professionals, media members and government officials.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)
represents the country's leading research-based pharmaceutical and
biotechnology companies, which are devoted to inventing medicines that
allow patients to live longer, healthier, and more productive lives.
The industry invested more than $30 billion in 2001 in discovering and
developing new medicines. PhRMA companies are leading the way in the
search for new cures.
(end excerpt)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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