Bush presents 7-billion-dollar anti-flu strategy

By Tony Czuczka Nov 2, 2005, 0:04 GMT

Washington - President George W. Bush on Tuesday unveiled a 7.1-billion-dollar plan to bolster U.S. defences against a flu pandemic, including a 'crash programme' to develop new vaccines.

Bush's long-awaited speech outlined his national strategy in the face of bird flu, which has killed more than 60 people in Asia since late 2003 and recently surfaced in Europe. Scientists fear the virus could mutate and trigger a human flu pandemic.

'If we wait for a pandemic to appear, it will be too late to prepare,' Bush said in a speech that also warned of the potential economic costs of a pandemic.

'At this moment, there is no pandemic influenza in the United States or the world. But if history is our guide, there is reason to be concerned.'

Bush proposed spending 251 million dollars to detect and contain outbreaks anywhere in the world, calling early detection the first line of defence against a pandemic.

On the critical issue of vaccines, he called for a 2.8 billion dollar 'crash programme' to help scientists 'bring the next generation of technology online rapidly'.

The goal of getting so-called cell culture technology from the lab into the production line is to produce enough vaccine for every American within six months of the start of an epidemic, Bush said.

More immediately, he proposed spending 1.2 billion dollars to stockpile enough of an existing vaccine to protect 20 million people. U.S. researchers have developed this vaccine based on the strain of the avian flu virus that has killed in Asia, Bush said.

He also asked the U.S. Congress to approve emergency spending of 1.2 billion dollars to stockpile antiviral drugs that help dampen the effects of a pandemic, and 644 million dollars to help all levels of government prepare for an outbreak.

The Bush administration has sought to focus on the bird flu threat in recent weeks, in part to counter wide criticism of its slow response two months ago when Hurricane Katrina devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast.

In a September speech at a U.N. summit in New York, Bush proposed a global partnership to track and stop the avian flu virus. He also invited U.S. vaccine makers to the White House to urge them to step up production.

The global scare deepened last month when several European nations reported cases of the Asian bird flu virus, apparently spread by migrating wild birds.

'Our country has been given fair warning of this danger to our homeland - and time to prepare,' Bush said in his speech at the National Naval Medical Centre outside Washington.

Opposition Democrats broadly welcomed Bush's initiative, but said it was weak on funding for local programmes and claimed he was late to the game.

Last week, the U.S. Senate voted under Democratic pressure to include nearly 8 billion dollars for pandemic preparedness in a proposed spending law.

'He didn't even acknowledge the fact that the Senate already provided 7.9 million dollars,' said Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat who authored the Senate proposal.

Senator Barack Obama of Illinois warned of dire global economic effects if a human flu pandemic strikes.

'The notion that we could somehow prevent a pandemic from coming into the United States without completely shutting down the world economy is unrealistic,' he said.