November 5, 2001

Speaking during the summit luncheon on October 24, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson reassured mayors that the federal government is "taking aggressive steps to ensure that our postal system is safe...that our government can function without a break...and that America has all the resources necessary to handle anything the terrorists want to throw at us."

Addressing the immediate threat of the anthrax attacks, Thompson outlined the steps that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is prepared to take in the event of future attacks. Once an anthrax attack has been confirmed, the CDC will immediately move into all postal facilities that might have handled an anthrax-tainted piece of mail, test the facilities, and make the appropriate treatment available to all employees who may have been exposed. The agency will also work with the U.S. Postal Service to develop techniques to protect postal workers on the job.

Secretary Thompson addressed a common concern among mayors regarding the availability of "Push Packs" containing supplies needed to treat inhalation anthrax following exposure. He noted that there are currently eight Push Packs located around the country that can be shipped to an area within twelve hours of a request for assistance. Currently the Push Packs have enough drugs to treat two million persons. Thompson has directed that the stockpile be increased so that twelve million persons can be treated for inhalation anthrax following exposure. He expects the CDC to reach that level of response within the next twelve months.

Secretary Thompson also announced a number of new steps that the federal government is taking to strengthen the ability of the public health system to respond to future bioterrorist attacks:

• The federal government will immediately release $3 million through the CDC to supplement public health grants to the affected states and cities (New York, New Jersey, the Washington, D.C. area and Florida) to support surveillance, detection, and confirmation of anthrax cases.
• President Bush has requested additional funds to strengthen the nation's ability to prevent and respond to a bioterrorism attack. Of these, $300 million are designated to improve state and local response capacity. (For specifics on the President's proposal, download Secretary Thompson's speech from www.usmayors.org.)
• Secretary Thompson is negotiating with Bayer Corporation to purchase enough cipro to treat large numbers of patients in the event of a large-scale bioterrorism event.
• The federal government is accelerating the production of vaccines and antibiotics to ensure the speedy and orderly distribution of antibiotics in the even of a bioterrorist attack.

In concluding his address, Thompson reflected that some good had come out of the events of September 11. "One of them is that we now have an opportunity to improve and strengthen the public health system in this country. Our public health system has not had the investment it needs in past years, but we recognize that now and are rebuilding it to be the best it can possibly be."