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  • ALABAMA - Pandemic Preparedness

    ALABAMA, OTHER STATES LINE UP TO
    STOCKPILE ANTI-FLU MEDICATION

    By Kevin Freking, Associated Press Writer
    July 7, 2006 (Times Daily, serving Northwest Alabama)

    South Carolina is in. Utah and Alabama, too. New Hampshire is out, at least for now.

    States have three more weeks to indicate whether they will seek help from the federal government in buying anti-flu medicine for a possible pandemic. Some already have made up their minds.

    Alabama's state health officer, Dr. Don Williamson, said the state has put in an order for enough Tamiflu to treat 476,000 people, which is the full amount the federal government allocated for the state to purchase. The state's cost will be about $6 million, Williamson said.

    South Carolina is planning ahead like Alabama.

    "We figure it is certainly better to do it and move forward with the purchase and hope we never have to use it than not and wish that we had," said Jim Beasley, spokesman for South Carolina's Department of Health and Environmental Control.

    As part of its pandemic preparations, the federal government is stockpiling Tamiflu and other anti-flu medications, which can reduce the symptoms associated with influenza. The Bush administration plans to buy enough to treat 44 million people.

    States can buy more if they want. The government is negotiating a price with Roche Laboratories, Inc., which makes Tamiflu, and will pay a quarter of the costs, up to a prescribed amount for each state. In all, states could use the subsidy to buy anti-flu medications for an additional 31 million people.

    Alabama's purchase plus its share of the federal stockpile would be enough to treat 1.1 million people, or about one in every four Alabamians, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

    Alabama's health officer said states can place the orders now but not pay until they take possession of the medicine. If information comes out in the next two or three months that Tamiflu might not be the right drug, the state is not obligated to take the medicine and pay for it, he said.

    He described it as a "best of both worlds" situation.

    The Department of Health and Human Services had set a July 1 deadline for states to indicate whether they would move forward with the purchase, but some states wanted more time, said spokesman Bill Hall. The deadline was moved to Aug. 1.

    Hall stressed that the deadline does not obligate states to a specific course of action. Rather, it serves as guidance to HHS for its planning.

    Montana and Arizona want only a little extra help. Meanwhile, states such as Washington say they plan to take full advantage of the next few weeks to determine the right amount of drugs to purchase.

    "There's a lot to sort out with antivirals," said Tim Church, spokesman for the Washington state Department of Health. "It's not a black-and-white decision."

    Oklahoma lawmakers this spring allocated $500,000 to buy anti-flu medications. That's enough to pay for enough medicine to treat about 35,000 of the state's 3.5 million people. But that's less than 7 percent of the amount HHS estimates the state could purchase through the federal subsidy.

    "We're struggling with how much do we need," said the state's epidemiologist, Dr. Brett Cauthen. "How much insurance do you need? Nobody knows what the best number is."

    Other states also indicated they probably won't use their full allotment. Montana, population 918,000, plans to buy enough anti-flu medication to treat 8,100 people. It could have bought enough to treat about 96,000.

    David Engelthaler, epidemiologist for the Arizona Department of Health Services, said the state had plans to spend $1 million on 70,000 courses of the 585,780 available to Arizona, population 5.6 million, but would talk to local health officials to see if more should be purchased.

    Engelthaler said it wasn't prudent to use public money to stockpile Tamiflu for every man, woman and child. "It's not likely to be a good drug for general prevention like a vaccine would," he said.

    Meanwhile, Dr. Jose Montero, state epidemiologist for New Hampshire, says the state will not buy additional anti-flu medication unless the Legislature appropriates funds for the purchase. And that couldn't happen until the Legislature comes back in January.

    Other states say they will take advantage of the federal government's offer.

    "We are authorized to buy as much as we can get by the governor," said Dr. Fred Jacobs, New Jersey's health commissioner.

    New Jersey has told HHS it wants enough to treat about 900,000 people.

    Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University's medical school, recommends that states have some anti-flu medication stockpiled in case of a pandemic. However, he said there's no right answer when it comes to just how much the states should have on hand.

    "These are all insurance policies we're buying," Schaffner said.

    How much insurance a state wants has to be weighed against other pressing matters, such as funding better education or roads, he said.

    Schaffner said he does sense, however, than many states still rely too much on the premise that the federal government should fund pandemic preparedness.

    "When it comes down to funding, that's when a lot of states are saying, gee, maybe it should all come from Uncle Sam," said Schaffner. "I think that's not a reasonable idea, and that's why we at Vanderbilt have made an investment in our own stockpile, and have invested substantially in drills and planning."

    The federal government has made clear that it won't be able to protect everyone in a pandemic.

    "Any community that fails to prepare with the expectation that the federal government will at the last moment be able to come to the rescue will be tragically wrong," said Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt.

    There have been three influenza pandemics in the United States during the past century. Officials fear that a virus in birds, the H5N1 virus, could mutate and spread from human to human. The World Health Organization reports that at least 229 people are known to have contracted bird flu since 2003, of which, 131 died.

    Source

  • #2
    ALABAMA - Pandemic Preparedness

    BIRD FLU SUMMIT SET FOR THURSDAY IN JASPER
    By Ed Howell (The Daily Mountain Eagle)
    July 10, 2006

    The state Department of Public Health is planning a public meeting in Jasper on Thursday, which is essentially set to be a summit of leaders and citizens concerning preparedness for a possible bird flu pandemic.

    Dr. Karen Landers, the Tuscumbia-based Area I health officer, said in a letter to community leaders that the meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the CHS building.

    Landers said Monday she had not heard how many will attend the meeting, but said she has one report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on the matter, and is planning to hand out a general emergency preparedness plan put together by the Health Department.

    "The important thing is that we have adequate information," Landers said.

    Landers called for local officials to attend by recently sending out a letter.

    "This meeting will be open to the citizens of Walker County. We cannot function independently of our community partners to protect and maintain the health and critical infrastructure of Walker County and Alabama," Landers said in the letter.

    "Please strongly consider this request. This is the initial step to assure our county will be able to meet the needs of its population in the event of a pandemic influenza occurrence," Landers wrote.

    Jasper Mayor Sonny Posey said he felt like it should be a top priority for anyone in a leadership position in Walker County.

    "I think all of us -- municipal, county, health care workers -- ought to show up for this. I don't know any way to communicate how important this could be," Posey said. "We're going to follow their lead."

    However, it is not known how much response will actually come from the cities. Carbon Hill Mayor Phillip Howard, who had initially expressed concern about an Alabama League of Municipalities memo saying cities could not necessarily depend on help from state and federal officials in a pandemic, noted last week the meeting conflicts with deliberations and interviews to pick a new police chief.

    He said either he would go or he would find a representative to go in his place.

    Howard had said earlier he wanted to bring together mayors in the county to discuss the issue.

    Cordova City Administrator Randall Gammon also noted he might come in later after a city meeting.

    "We've got a public hearing set up at 6 for a CDBG grant," Gammon said, adding the city has other pressing issues at the moment.

    The June 26 letter from Landers said Area I of the state Department of Public Health is working with the Walker County Local Emergency Planning Committee and the Centers for Disease Control "to build a response to minimize the effects of a pandemic flu outbreak" in the county.

    "As key stakeholders, you will play an important role in protecting our community's health and safety, as well as limiting the impact that an influenza pandemic could have on our economy and society," Landers said in the letter sent to local community leaders. "We are requesting that you participate in a countywide discussion/education session regarding our preparedness."

    "We are in the process of doing pandemic flu planning. They are in various stages of completion," said Don Cardwell, the Area I administrator for the state Department of Public Health in Tuscumbia, on Thursday.

    One of the first concerns for the state will be in determining the local needs of the community.

    However, Landers noted that there are only so many resources that the state or federal government can provide in any situation, making it important that local officials plan for any event.

    Source: http://www.mountaineagle.com/NF/omf/...101699+[cr=gdn

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    • #3
      ALABAMA - Pandemic Preparedness

      IS THE FUNERAL HOME INDUSTRY PREPARED?
      By Ebony Horton (The Dothan Eagle)
      September 17, 2006

      A profession that could promise a more than $45,000 annual salary in Alabama is seeing a decline in applicants at one of the most inopportune periods in history.

      A national decrease in the number of licensed funeral directors and morticians could cause an overworked industry of death as more than 78 million baby boomers are expected to bury their parents - and eventually themselves - in the next several years. An epidemic like bird influenza ("bird flu") sweeping through the country could be overwhelming.

      Only 20 people graduated in Alabama last year with a degree in some form of funeral service education. About 1,450 students graduated nationally in a funeral service program last year, 300 less than in 2000.

      There are currently about 22,000 funeral homes in the country.

      "The funeral industry is a seven-day, 24 hour-a-day job. Not many people are wanting to get into the field because they have to commit time away from family and work long hours - you can't ever know when someone is going to pass away," said David Meadows, owner of Kent-Thornton-Meadows Funeral Home.

      "We're prepared now and if it calls for hiring more people to maintain a quality service then that's what we'll do, but in 10 years I'm predicting a dire shortage in funeral directors and embalmers."

      Dr. Michael Smith, executive director of the American Board of Funeral Service Education, said although the number of students enrolling in programs is slightly down, the number of students who stay in programs and graduate are slightly up. Unity Funeral Home co-owner Alfonso Brown said funeral directors practicing without a license could be a reason people leave the program.

      "You need a license to conduct and render services, to sell a funeral, to embalm bodies," he said. "A lot of people operate without one."

      Earl Bankston, Dale County coroner and co-founder of Fuqua-Bankston Funeral Home in Ozark, said he's started preparing early for a decrease by having more licensed morticians on site.

      "We don't know what's going to happen in the next 20 years but not enough young people are going into (the business)," he said. "Most of us in it are getting old."

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