Pandemic or Programmed Genocide (Part 2)

Pandemic or Programmed Genocide (Part 2)

 In my last blog titled “Pandemic or Programmed Genocide” I concluded with a statement from the Dept. of Health and Human Services, (HHS), stating, “The full promise for the progress HHS anticipated cannot be achieved as HHS does not have the requested resources to fully implement the plan it proposed.”  This report added that the fiscal 2008 appropriations bill did not include the $870 million initially requested by the president to support the plan’s next phase.   

Now, here is your answer as to why this is occurring.  Three years ago, the GAO, Government Accountability Office, which was initiated after 9/11 as part of the changes related to the Patriot Act, developed a strategy for its work to support Congress’ decision-making and oversight related to pandemic flu planning.   Their report supplanted Congresses flu pandemic planning and rather included a strategy which incorporated reviews of other national disasters such as the 9/11 terror attacks, hurricanes Katrina and Andrew, and emerging infectious diseases such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome. 

Their strategy targeted six themes which were, performance and accountability, leadership, authority and coordination, detecting threats and managing risks; information sharing, and communication, capacity to respond and recover, and planning, training and exercise.   Basically, since 2006, when HHS’s budget was taken over by GAO, 11 reports were published which made 23 recommendations based on its findings.  Then to summarize, control of the funds allocated to HHS had been transferred to a “new governmental office.” 

This office, the ASPR, is the office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness Response.  Because the funding was now, “broad based,” to include various possible risk factors as stated above, little of the initial $7.1 billion in emergency funding specifically proposed for pandemic influenza preparedness by George W. Bush in 2005 actually reached the individual hospital facilities. 

Instead the ASPR has allocated to the nation’s states and territories these funds which are supposed to be used to apply to all of the hazards that were reviewed initially by the GAO according to Gregg Pane, an emergency physician who is the director of national healthcare preparedness programs at ASPR.   Pane stated that planning efforts should be shared in a community with emphases on the local medical institutional needs. 

This would better target specific areas according to their area of need.    It appears that the funding priorities of these federally funded departments are too federally focused.  Way too much of the money that is allocated from your tax dollars and mine goes to propping up large, federal bureaucracies like the C.D.C., Center for Disease Control, rather than providing the national health care support that our tax dollars are crying out for as we continue to live under the world wide pandemic threat of both the Swine and Avian Flues.  

Today, May 5, 2009, there are 279 confirmed cases of the, H1N1, Swine Flu virus within the United States.  Here is what you can do. Write to your local Representatives before you put in your next vote!    Someone needs to hear the voice of the people before pandemic brings about total silence and death.  Choose Life! 

Thank you,

The Undefeated Life