Trust for America's Health Applauds U.S. Response to...( WASHINGTON April 27 -- Trust for Ame...),Health

WASHINGTON, April 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Trust for America's Health (TFAH) today commended the Administration for its fast and effective response to the swine flu outbreak.

"The Administration has taken the right approach to managing the swine flu outbreak, with experts and scientists driving key decisions. The leadership and coordination among CDC, HHS, DHS, and state and local governments are clear and strong," said Jeff Levi, Ph.D., Executive Director of TFAH. "The preparations the country has made since the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza was issued in November 2005 are now paying off. In the past three and a half years, we've made monumental improvements in surveillance, coordination, communications, and control and treatment capabilities. Yet, additional resources are needed to adequately prepare the nation for such an impending emergency."

In order to continue to respond to this swine flu outbreak and to continue and improve preparations and the capacity to respond to other potential pandemic outbreaks, such as the H5N1 "bird flu," TFAH recommends:

• Completing the funding to implement the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza. Former President Bush originally requested $7.1 billion to carry out research and development for vaccinations, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices needed to respond to a pandemic. $870 million of this has never been funded. This funding was originally included in both the FY 2008 budget and proposed 2009 stimulus bill, but was removed each time before the bills' final passage.
• With more than $1 billion of HHS funding, six companies are in various stages of implementing commercial-scale production of cell-based methods and/or expanding their vaccine capacity using eggs. By 2011, U.S. based vaccine production capacity is expected to be at a point in which it can generate enough pandemic influenza vaccine for e
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