[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 64 (Friday, April 20, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S4808]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     COMMEMORATING WORLD HEALTH DAY

  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I wish to make a few remarks regarding 
commemoration of World Health Day by the World Health Organization, 
WHO. On Saturday, April 7, 2007, WHO again commemorated its 1948 
founding with the annual World Health Day. This year's theme is 
international health security.
  In the words of WHO, ``Threats to health know no borders.''
  Globalization, characterized by increased mobility of populations and 
the emergence of new, highly contagious diseases, make us increasingly 
vulnerable to pandemics and other health crises. Diseases such as 
highly pathogenic avian influenza, or ``bird flu,'' severe acute 
respiratory syndrome, or ``SARS,'' have entered our public health and 
security vocabulary. They are worthy of serious study, focus, and 
action. The spread of these and other virulent diseases and the 
potentially cataclysmic impact of a pandemic on countries around the 
world and here in the United States reminds us all of the critical need 
for adequate preparedness and continued awareness of threats to the 
health and well-being of Americans and people around the world.
  We need a strategy to handle a pandemic flu outbreak, one that 
includes a multilayered and multinational approach to detecting and 
isolating viruses before they can spread. At my request, the Government 
Accountability Office has undertaken several investigations into how 
best to prepare for a possible pandemic flu outbreak. The first line of 
protection should be to deploy overseas public health specialists and 
veterinarians to detect a virus in its early stages. We need to provide 
more international assistance to countries least able to defend 
themselves. At the same time, DHS should develop sophisticated response 
plans to maintain critical services, such as water, power, 
transportation, and medical and financial services, in the event a 
pandemic forces the Nation to adopt a quarantine strategy.
  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control, CDC, has established a global 
disease protection program, and DHS has created a new Office of Health 
Affairs that will bring together medical readiness and biological 
defense activities, including BioWatch. However, I remain concerned 
about the level of coordination between these and other domestic actors 
regarding pandemic planning. As chairman of the Subcommittee on 
Government Management, the Federal Workforce and the District of 
Columbia under the Committee on Homeland Security and Government 
Affairs, I hope to address this and other issues related to pandemic 
planning and response so that the United States is prepared for any 
natural or manmade attack, including a pandemic flu.
  The mutation of avian influenza, a zoonotic disease that originated 
in birds but has since been transmitted to humans, is a high-profile 
reminder that we cannot cease our efforts to prepare for and respond to 
health crises. Since the H5N1 strain of bird flu was first detected in 
1997, the threat has not abated. Of the 291 confirmed cases of bird flu 
reported to the WHO since that time, more than half, 171, have resulted 
in death. While these numbers may not seem large or significant, they 
are a warning signal that avian flu has mutated and continues to 
spread. As it does, it adapts and can become even more deadly. In our 
interdependent and highly mobile world, we are never immune and, as 
such, we cannot be complacent.
  For example, my home State of Hawaii lies at the crossroads between 
Asia and the continental United States. Nearly 2 million people visit 
Hawaii every year from Asia. Given the large number of confirmed cases 
of avian influenza in Asia, it is easy to understand why Hawaii 
continues to take bird flu and pandemic planning very seriously. 
Unfortunately, this disease shows no signs of abating. According to the 
World Health Organization, just this month, the Cambodian Ministry of 
Health confirmed the country's seventh case of human infection with the 
H5N1 avian influenza virus. It is the first case to be confirmed in 
humans in Cambodia in 2007. On April 7, avian flu claimed the life of a 
74th victim in Indonesia, while on April 11, Egypt confirmed the death 
of a l5-year-old girl in Cairo, its 14th victim from avian flu.
  But we must also remember that pandemic flu is not the only risk to 
human health. To coincide with World Health Day 2007, the WHO released 
a report entitled ``Invest in Health, Build a Safer Future.'' In it, 
the WHO lists eight key issues linked to international health security. 
Highly contagious diseases is certainly one of those issues, but also 
included are the threat of chemical, radioactive, and biological terror 
threats, the threat of public health dangers on economic stability, and 
building health security, to include a framework for collaboration laid 
out by the International Health Regulations, IHRs, and a number of 
surveillance networks that can provide an early-warning and response 
system.
  I commend the WHO for its ongoing efforts to raise awareness of the 
need to work toward international health security and to continue to 
address the threat of highly contagious disease, chemical, biological, 
and radiological terrorism, and the economic impact of pandemic 
disease. Global health is no longer just a matter of ensuring the 
vitality, economic stability, and environments of the United States and 
countries around the world. It is about security. It is about homeland 
security. In commemorating World Health Day 2007, WHO Director General 
Margaret Chan put a fine point on this notion by stating that, ``A 
foreign agent that invades a sovereign territory, evades detection, 
kills civilians and disrupts the economy is a security threat by most 
definitions . . . . The best defense against emerging and epidemic-
prone diseases is not passive barriers at borders, airports and 
seaports. It is proactive risk management that seeks to detect an 
outbreak early and stop it at its source.'' Through a continuing focus 
on an all-hazards approach, a more comprehensive approach to defending 
our homeland, we can help mitigate the universal vulnerability the 
United States and other countries face against large-scale health 
catastrophes.




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