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February
5, 2002
Release 02022
ALASKA TO RECEIVE
$6.9 M FOR BIOTERRORISM PREPAREDNESS
Federal Funds to Increase Public Health Ability to Respond to Latest
Threats
After fears of anthrax
contamination stretched Alaska's public health system nearly to the limit
last fall, Gov. Tony Knowles announced today that the state will receive
$6.9 million to increase the state's preparedness against bioterrorism. The
funds are among $1 billion appropriated to the states by the federal
Department of Health and Human Services last week.
"Last fall's
anthrax threat showed us that our state's public health system, like others
around the nation, has not been funded to maintain adequate response
capacity to the threat today," Knowles said. "The $6.9 million in
federal funds that the state will receive will go a long way toward
improving our public health system to respond to the threats now posed by
terrorists."
During the anthrax
scare that gripped the nation last fall, the state Public Health Laboratory
responded to 69 reports of possible anthrax contamination, and tested 345
samples, including suspicious letters, packages, airliner seats, and other
suspect articles. None of the samples in Alaska tested positive for
anthrax. While a few items were deliberate hoaxes, most of the cases in
Alaska were prompted by genuine concern about the type of contamination
that resulted in fatalities elsewhere in the nation.
"The increased
workload meant our state epidemiologists and public health nurses had to
put in hundreds of hours of added service, but they responded to the
call," said Health and Social Services Commissioner Jay Livey.
"These dedicated staff worked hard to ensure that daily efforts
against vaccine-preventable diseases, foodborne illnesses, emerging
infections, and other health threats continued even while the extraordinary
work of anthrax testing got done."
Under the federal plan
announced by Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson last week,
each state will receive $5 million plus an additional amount based on
population. The funds are intended to upgrade infectious disease
surveillance and investigation, enhance the readiness of hospital systems
to deal with large numbers of casualties, and expand public health laboratory
and communications capacity.
Of the $6.9 million
that Alaska will receive, 20 percent or $1.3 million will be available
immediately for emergency needs, planning and related purposes. The
remaining $5.6 million will be awarded based on the submission of an
approved plan for use of the funds. Program guidance and instructions for
applying for and using these funds will be made available to state health
officials by February 15.
A portion of the funds,
about half a million dollars in Alaska, is earmarked to assist hospitals
increase their preparedness to respond to a bioterrorist attack.
"This is a down
payment to help us begin rebuilding the public health system in
Alaska," said Public Health Director Karen Pearson of the Alaska
Department of Health and Social Services. "It will help us to better
respond to the threat of bioterrorism, ensuring our ability to manage our
daily workload while responding appropriately to any natural or
human-caused disaster."
The federal funds for
bioterrorism preparedness may allow the state to reduce its general fund
request as part of the Governor's overall homeland security budget. Until a
final program is approved, however, it is impossible to determine the exact
amount of Alaska's needs that can be funded by this federal grant.
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Contact:
Bob King, Press Secretary at
(907) 465-3995 or Julie Penn,
Deputy Press Secretary at 907-465-3996.
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