Government urges pandemic flu preparations

[Treyfish]

Government urges pandemic flu preparations <!-- END HEADLINE -->
<!-- BEGIN STORY BODY -->1 hour, 42 minutes ago


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials asked business, health and religious groups on Wednesday to urge Americans to prepare for a possible flu pandemic with steps like storing food and supplies and staying home if ill.
<SCRIPT language=javascript>if(window.yzq_d==null)window.yzq_d=new Object();window.yzq_d['wGuYKkLEYrY-']='&U=13be6b0u7%2fN%3dwGuYKkLEYrY-%2fC%3d570456.10459092.11089984.1414694%2fD%3dLREC%2fB%3d4466380';</SCRIPT>Health and Human Services Department officials met with about 100 representatives of various organizations as part of an effort to convince Americans that the threat from pandemic flu is real and advance preparations can save lives.
The H5N1 avian influenza virus, which has killed 190 people among more than 300 known cases since 2003, is considered the most likely candidate to cause a pandemic if it acquires the ability to infect people easily.
Business groups, insurers, school administrators, civic clubs, the <FORM class=yqin action=http://yq.search.yahoo.com/search method=post></FORM>American Red Cross, medical groups, and Roman Catholic, Baptist, Mormon, Lutheran, Jewish, Buddhist and Muslim representatives were among those taking part.
HHS officials appealed to them to encourage Americans to take steps like storing extra food and supplies in the event an outbreak forces people to stay home for long periods, practice proper hand washing to cut the chances of spreading the virus, and stay home when ill to avoid infecting others.
"Preparing for an influenza pandemic is a shared responsibility," HHS Secretary <FORM class=yqin action=http://yq.search.yahoo.com/search method=post></FORM>Mike Leavitt said in a statement. "By preparing now, individuals will be better able to deal with a pandemic, slow the spread of illness, and lessen the overall impact to themselves and to society."
Federal officials in February issued guidelines for communities on combating a flu pandemic before a vaccine is available. In the most serious pandemic, they called for isolation measures like closing schools, canceling public gatherings and quarantining households with sick people.
The Labor Department's <FORM class=yqin action=http://yq.search.yahoo.com/search method=post></FORM>Occupational Safety and Health Administration also urged employers to develop plans to cope with a pandemic, suggesting letting employees work from home and encouraging sick workers to stay home without reprisals.:tiphat: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070613/ts_nm/birdflu_usa_dc

 

[Shannon Bennett]

Re: Government urges pandemic flu preparations

If Levitt can say this to religious and organizations like the Red Cross, then why can't it be issued to the media? It disturbs me that only a few are going to be in the forefront for preps. The message needs to come form the President not just Levitt and everyone needs to hear it not just a select few.

 

[Amish Country]

Re: Government urges pandemic flu preparations

If Levitt can say this to religious and organizations like the Red Cross, then why can't it be issued to the media? It disturbs me that only a few are going to be in the forefront for preps. The message needs to come form the President not just Levitt and everyone needs to hear it not just a select few.

I wonder if he is speaking to them in this manner because A) it is hard to read a scripture like the bible and think that God doesn't get pissed from time to time and send a plague (and famine - initial result of plague do to hoarding and little or no food moving in quarantine), B) Churches have been traditional first responders in emergencies such as pandemics and C) the Red Cross was around for the 1918 Great Influenza.

What I find interesting is on the Red Cross web site history page there is mention of the work they did to support the war effort of WW I but no mention is made of the work they did during the 1918 flu. Those were truly brave volunteers.

 

[gsgs]

Re: Government urges pandemic flu preparations

the government spent ~$3 billion on panflu preparedness this year.
That's a clear signal, how important they think it is.
Compare that with the budgets for other things.

So, it's reasonable to spend maybe a similar amount
of your budget for private preparedness.
That's about 0.1% of your income then.

 

[tygerkittn]

Re: Government urges pandemic flu preparations

the government spent ~$3 billion on panflu preparedness this year.
That's a clear signal, how important they think it is.
Compare that with the budgets for other things.

So, it's reasonable to spend maybe a similar amount
of your budget for private preparedness.
That's about 0.1% of your income then.

$90??? That wouldn't be much! Maybe 1% would be better.

 

[hawkeye]

Re: Government urges pandemic flu preparations

$90 is at least something. Perhaps achievable by many? It might be a big bag of rice and a big bag of beans...but at least it's rice and beans when you need it.

 

[tygerkittn]

Re: Government urges pandemic flu preparations

But $90 is .1% of our income, which is artificially higher because we live in Atlanta, where everything is expensive, and we have 6 kids, so $90 isn't much for our family model. For someone like my teenage son, .1% is more like $10, and for my niece's family of 6 that would be $20. $90 is about two days of food for us. For my son and my niece .1% is one day's food.

 

[Amish Country]

Re: Government urges pandemic flu preparations

At 0.1% for a family grossing 100k thats $100 US if I did my math right. As of today in my area that is enough for:

100 lb enriched rice - $20 (approx whole sale)
24 lb dried beans - $20 (approx whole sale)
16 gallons of water -.62 a jug - $10 (retail)
42 cans of assorted veggies at $.50 a can (cheaper in my area on sale) - $21
2 - 1 lb shelf stable hams (retail) - $6
1 box of 20 - N95 masks - $13 Shipping - $10

Even 0.1% can do a lot if spent wisely.

 

[JJackson]

Re: Government urges pandemic flu preparations

90$ is big money to most people! Remember World bank figures show of our 6.6 billion population 1.1 billion live on 1$ a day and 2.7 billion live on 2$/day. And that is not just additional food stocks. You can by a lot of brown rice for 90$, in the words of 'Crocodile Dundee' it "tastes like **** but you can live on it".

 

[tygerkittn]

Re: Government urges pandemic flu preparations

Here 100 lbs of rice is about $26 plus tax.
That's my point, $100 spent wisely can help a lot, but how many people make $100,000 a year? My niece has 4 kids and they make about $20,000 a year (her husband is a youth minister.) My son has only himself but he makes less than $10,000 a year in retail, and he has a LOT of co-workers who earn the same. So I'm not saying $100 is nothing, I'm saying .1% is not $100 for MOST people. For most people it's $10, or $20, or $30. Is that going to buy more than a couple of days worth of food?
Spending 1% isn't too unreasonable, just buy more rice and less twinkies. I'd say more oats, but even plain oats are $1 a lb here. I bought 50 lbs for almost $50 at www.honeyvillegrain.com because it was about the same as at Sam's club and it was nice to have it delivered.