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January 31, 2002
The State of Hawaii will receive $8,363,546 in federal funding in
support of public health measures to strengthen its capacity to respond
to bioterrorism and other public health emergencies resulting from
terrorism. The allocation of funds was announced today in a letter to
governors from Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G.
Thompson.
The funds will be used to further enhance on the state’s
comprehensive Bioterrorism preparedness plans, upgrade infectious
disease surveillance and investigation, expand state laboratory and
communication capacities, and improve connectivity between hospitals,
and city, local and state agencies
Health Director Bruce Anderson said, "This funding will give Hawaii
an unprecedented opportunity to improve our ability to respond to
threats of bioterrorism and at the same time strengthen our public
health infrastructure." He added, "We are very pleased the HHS
Secretary gave all the states $5 million across the board plus
additional funding based upon population ratios."
Funding to the state will include $7.65 million from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and is targeted to support
bioterrorism, infectious diseases, and public health emergency
preparedness activities statewide. An additional $711,498 is also being
provided for use by the state to collaborate with local health care
facilities to develop regional hospital response plans. Hospitals play
a critical role in both identifying and responding to potential
bioterrorism attacks and disease outbreaks.
Hawaii is fortunate to already have much of its state bioterrorism
plan in place. The State Department of Health (DOH) began development
of a bioterrorism preparedness plan in 1999 with federal funding from
the CDC. Since then, collaboration between federal, state, county and
private agencies has been ongoing.
In addition to a state-of-the-art, 24/7 disease surveillance system
that is considered one of the best in the nation, the DOH has an
extensive communication network with hospitals and physicians
statewide. A working bioterrorism task force representing all
government levels, as well as private hospitals is also in place and
legislation is being introduced this year to update and strengthen
emergency health powers needed to quickly respond and improve disease
investigation. Work is also underway to expand State Laboratory
capacity.
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