States plan for pandemic flu

States rush, but some lag on bird flu

Saturday, July 08, 2006

By Kevin Freking, The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- South Carolina is in. Utah and Alabama, too. Some states aren't waiting for an Aug. 1 deadline to seek help from the federal government in buying anti-bird-flu medicine for a possible pandemic. "We figure it is certainly better to do it, and move forward with the purchase and hope we never have to use it, than not and wish that we had," said Jim Beasley, spokesman for South Carolina's Department of Health and Environmental Control. As part of its pandemic preparations, the federal government is stockpiling Tamiflu and other anti-flu medications, which can reduce the symptoms associated with influenza. The Bush administration plans to buy enough to treat 44 million people. States can buy more if they want. The government is negotiating a price with Roche Laboratories, Inc., which makes Tamiflu, and will pay a quarter of the costs, up to a prescribed amount for each state. In all, states could use the subsidy to buy anti-flu medications for an additional 31 million people. The Department of Health and Human Services had initially set a July 1 deadline for states to indicate whether they would move forward with the purchase, but some states wanted more time, spokesman Bill Hall said. So the deadline was delayed until Aug. 1. Mr. Hall stressed that the deadline does not obligate states to a specific course of action. Rather, it serves as guidance to his department for its planning. Montana and Arizona want only a little extra help. Meanwhile, states such as Washington say they plan to take full advantage of the next few weeks to determine the right amount of drugs to purchase."There's a lot to sort out with antivirals," said Tim Church, spokesman for the Washington state Department of Health. "It's not a black-and-white decision." Oklahoma lawmakers this spring allocated $500,000 to buy anti-flu medications. That's enough to pay for enough medicine to treat about 35,000 of the state's 3.5 million people. But that's about 7 percent of the amount Health and Human Services estimates that the state could purchase through the federal subsidy."We're struggling with how much do we need," said the state's epidemiologist, Dr. Brett Cauthen. "How much insurance do you need? Nobody knows what the best number is." New Jersey has told the federal department that it wants enough to treat about 900,000 people. "We are authorized to buy as much as we can get by the governor," said Dr. Fred Jacobs, New Jersey's health commissioner. The amount Pennsylvania, with a population of 12.4 million, is planning to buy was unavailable yesterday, but the Health and Human Services Department shows it is eligible for a federal subsidy for 1,298,844 courses. Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University's medical school in Nashville, Tenn., recommends that states have some anti-flu medication stockpiled in case of a pandemic. But he said there's no right answer regarding just how much the states should have on hand. "These are all insurance policies we're buying," Dr. Schaffner said. How much insurance a state wants has to be weighed against other pressing matters, such as funding better education or roads, he said. Copyright 2006 Associated Press.