The Bush Administration, Congress, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have taken steps to combat the threat of bioterrorism as a response to 9/11. These steps include the implementation of the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 and the Project BioShield Act of 2004.

The following is a statement by Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; it sums up the current efforts of the U.S. government to ensure that the federal, state, and local governments are ready for a bioweapons attack (or even a naturally occurring epidemic).

This year, we are proposing roughly $4.4 billion to prepare for possible bioterrorist and other public health emergencies. This includes:

An additional $68 million in the Strategic National Stockpile to expand capabilities to operate, properly store, and deploy the rapidly increasing holdings of these critical repositories

Approximately $1.3 billion at CDC and HRSA to continue to improve State and local public health and hospital preparedness

$79 million to fund the Mass Casualty Initiative, which includes Federal Medical Stations, Medical Reserve Corps, Healthcare Provider Credentialing and the Commissioned Corps Transformation initiatives, and

$160 million to support advanced development of priority medical countermeasures.

This $4.4 billion is complemented by an additional $2.3 billion allowance for an emergency appropriation and $352 million in ongoing efforts in the FY 2007 budget for pandemic influenza activities. (Source)

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