May 21, 2002 (CIDRAP News) – The federal government is pouring billions of dollars into public health, but the effort to improve the nation's preparedness for bioterrorism faces a severe shortage of people trained in public health disciplines, according to Donald A. Henderson, MD, a top federal adviser on public health preparedness.
Henderson, speaking yesterday at the commencement ceremony of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in Minneapolis, said the current public health buildup is expected to generate about 4,000 jobs in the field, but officials "can't readily identify more than about 10%" of the people needed to fill those jobs.
Henderson recently left his position as director of the federal Office of Public Health Preparedness, but he continues to work as principal science adviser for public health preparedness to Tommy Thompson, secretary of health and human services. In the 1970s Henderson led the successful global campaign to eradicate smallpox.
He did not go into detail about the types of public health skills needed, but focused on the theme that in the wake of last fall's terrorist attacks, the current situation affords a rare opportunity to strengthen the nation's long-neglected public health system. "Biological weapons now pose a substantially greater threat than either chemical or nuclear weapons," he said. To counter this threat, there is now a recognition that the most important step is to strengthen the nation's public health infrastructure, he added.
Referring to last fall's mail-borne anthrax attacks, Henderson said, "This was done only after a great deal of work and practice. . . . We can count on the fact that there's a great deal more of this [weaponized anthrax] out there somewhere, we only wish we knew where." Later he added, "We can say with reasonable certainty that there's going to be a second event."
The new infusion of dollars into public health began when President Bush signed a $3 billion bioterrorism preparedness bill last Jan 10, Henderson noted. About $1 billion of that was earmarked for the states, and HHS began disbursing some of that money at the end of January, he said. But distribution of $800 million of the money is contingent on the submission of acceptable public health preparedness plans by the states, he said. Each state was asked to submit a plan by Apr 15, and Secretary Thompson is scheduled to finish reviewing the plans by the end of this month. The rest of the funds will be distributed to the states after that, Henderson explained.
"I personally have been astonished and impressed" by how seriously the states have taken the requirement for writing preparedness plans, Henderson said. After commenting on the expected shortage of public health personnel, he continued, "The president has asked for a 50% increase next year for this program. . . . It'll take years to fully rejuvenate our public health infrastructure."
He concluded with the prediction, "Public health over the next decade promises to be needed more than ever before."
