News & Perspective

In the wake of a newspaper investigation that questioned the value of the federal BioWatch program for detecting dangerous airborne pathogens, some public health officials familiar with the program acknowledge that it's far from perfect, but they say it's not time to scrap it.

(CIDRAP News) – President Bush today announced Michael O. Leavitt as his choice for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), replacing Tommy Thompson, who resigned last week.

Leavitt, who served three terms as governor of Utah, has been administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) since November 2003. His name now goes to the Senate for confirmation.

(CIDRAP News) – The Bush administration has announced plans to expand and strengthen the Public Health Service (PHS) Commissioned Corps, the nation's uniformed force of health professionals who can be mobilized to respond to health emergencies around the country.

Editor's Note: The text as originally published on Feb 26 was revised slightly on March 10, 2003.

(CIDRAP News) – President Bush's National Strategy for Homeland Security, released this week, lays out a lengthy agenda for defending the country against bioterrorism as well as other kinds of terrorist attacks.

(CIDRAP News) – A lengthy report by an expert panel on anthrax generally echoes treatment and prevention recommendations made by federal health officials last fall while highlighting how little is known about the epidemiology of the disease, especially how many spores it takes to cause infection.