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Biosecurity News in Brief
Americans Believe Nation Is Unprepared for Flu Pandemic, Bioterror AttackBy Shana Deitch, February 9, 2007 A Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) survey[1] conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research reveals that concern among Americans about biological and chemical terrorism has increased during the last year.[1] According to the poll—which surveyed 1015 adults age 18 or over between January 18 and January 22, 2007—70% of respondents reported being concerned about chemical attacks. This is an increase of 18% from a survey conducted in 2006. Concerns about a biological attack increased from 50% in 2006 to 64% in 2007. Similarly, concerns about the possibility of an influenza pandemic increased by 4 percentage points to 61% in the 2007 survey. Although cancer and chronic disease remain the highest concerns among survey respondents, concerns about a chemical attack are the third highest.[1] While respondents expressed concern about the threat, 45% percent of those surveyed believe that the country is unprepared to respond to a bioterrorist attack. More than half of respondents (53%) believe that the country is unprepared for an influenza pandemic. In a TFAH press release[2] accompanying the report, TFAH’s executive director Jeff Levi said “…increased apprehension about emergency health issues like bioterrorism and food contamination demonstrate how central health is to our national sense of wellbeing.”[2] In a related TFAH press release,[3] the organization reports that the proposed Presidential budget for fiscal year (FY) 2008 includes cuts of $185 million to bioterrorism and public health preparedness programs.[3] Funding for pandemic flu preparedness is increased by $1.1 billion in the proposed budget. According to the press release, TFAH commends the President for the increase in pandemic flu funding but states that “we are cutting core boots-on-the-ground support for emergency disaster response, leaving the country at unnecessary levels of risk.”
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