Media Release

For Immediate Release
Date: March 30, 2006
Contact: Maria Wah-Fitta

PANDEMIC FLU PLANNING FUNDING HEARD TODAY BY HOUSE FINANCE COMMITTEE
GOVERNOR SEEKS $1 MILLION FOR MEDICATION AND EQUIPMENT

The House Finance Committee considered Governor Carcieri’s proposed budget item that would provide $1 million in funding for medications and equipment to prepare for a possible pandemic flu.

The budget request is part of an extensive planning effort undertaken by the Carcieri Administration to ensure that Rhode Island is prepared for a pandemic, as well as better prepared for any other large-scale health emergency.

In November, Governor Carcieri asked Dr. David Gifford, Director of the Rhode Island Department of Health (HEALTH) to lead the statewide planning and preparedness effort to respond to a pandemic of influenza. Gifford and Robert Warren, the Executive Director of the state Emergency Management Agency, led a working group that developed a statewide pandemic influenza response plan. Since then, the working group has expanded to include all sectors of society, and the planning process is ongoing.

In January, Governor Carcieri hosted U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt to Rhode Island for a statewide pandemic flu planning summit. More than 400 people representing business, education, government, community and social service organizations, and emergency first responders received a briefing from Leavitt, Carcieri, Gifford, and other federal and state officials on the planning efforts.

Governor Carcieri said that all state agencies, the private business sector, faith-based groups, community based organizations, and every single individual across the state have an important role to play in pandemic preparedness.

Background on pandemic influenza

“We expect avian influenza in migratory birds to reach the U.S. possibly as soon as this year,” said Gifford. “Even though the arrival of avian influenza in birds does not equal the start of an influenza pandemic in humans, there continues to be a possibility that the virus that currently causes the flu in birds might change its genetic makeup and become a new virus that has the ability to infect humans but also to spread easily among people. Pandemics are different from the seasonal flu. The seasonal flu is caused by influenza viruses that already circulate among people, whereas pandemic outbreaks are caused by new influenza viruses that have never circulated among people,” Gifford added.

Because people would not have built-in defenses against a virus that is new to humans, an influenza pandemic would cause illness in a very large number of people, and there would likely be a significant number of deaths. Pandemics have occurred in the past, resulting in significant disruption of everyday life and very large economic loss. For planning purposes, HEALTH calculates that up to 40% of people might be out of work at once, either as a result of illness or because they need to care for their loved ones or their neighbors. Furthermore, the disruption resulting from of a pandemic could last anywhere from several weeks to over a year.

“I have been reviewing the Providence Journal articles from 1918 and 1919 when Rhode Island was struck by the influenza pandemic known as the “Spanish flu.” It is amazing how similar the issues were back then and the difficult decisions that needed to be made: whether to close schools and church services or not, whether to allow people to congregate in large groups or not. We are facing similar challenges in the planning we are doing now,” Gifford said. “One thing that is substantially different, and much better today, is the capability we have to communicate with people through the Internet and with the help of the mass media. People can expect to be informed of any important changes and recommendations to help them cope with a pandemic situation as we get new information, and that is our commitment to all Rhode Islanders,” he added.

An important difference between an influenza pandemic and other large scale emergencies is that an influenza pandemic is expected to occur in all areas of the nation almost at the same time. Therefore, the Federal Government will not have enough resources to support state and local governments. The key message here is that pandemic influenza response must be, and will happen, primarily at the neighborhood, city/town, and state level.

“Any preparation that we can do before a pandemic starts in the world will help us cope better when it is finally here, whether it is this year, next year, or in the next few years. Furthermore, any preparation individuals do for pandemic influenza –such as stockpiling a little bit of extra food and water, or keeping an extra few days of medication on hand—will be useful in any other health emergency, or even in an emergency such as a major hurricane,” said Gifford.

“A key component of pandemic preparedness is to stockpile additional medical supplies, which will be scarce at that time. We are also planning to support alternative healthcare sites to try to keep up with the surge in demand for care that would be sure to happen during a pandemic,” Gifford added.

People should always practice good hygiene habits such as covering their cough or sneeze, disposing of tissue properly, and using proper handwashing techniques or alcohol-based gels. They should avoid touching their eyes, nose or mouth after handling contaminated items.

Public health authorities worldwide are focusing efforts on containing avian influenza and monitoring human health to detect a pandemic influenza as soon as it starts. Rhode Island is following pandemic preparedness guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

DHHS has published pandemic preparedness checklists for individuals, families, businesses, community-based organizations, schools, institutions of higher education, faith-based organizations, health care organizations, and government agencies.

These checklists, along with HEALTH’s pandemic influenza plan, and other information about pandemic influenza, are available online at www.health.ri.gov.