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Washington ill-prepared to
handle serious
health emergency, warns Bailey
Public health departments
in Washington are barely able to handle day-to-day operations and are
far from prepared to respond to a serious health crisis, such as a
derivative of the avian influenza virus,
Rep. Barbara Bailey, R-Oak
Harbor, warned today.
Bailey’s remarks come following an alert this week by public health
officials that the chicken flu virus, called H5N1, is just a genetic
tweak away from becoming a highly infectious and deadly bug that could
spread across the world in weeks.
"I have grave concerns that Washington’s public health departments are
not adequately funded to meet a state emergency. In fact, we don’t have
the funds to meet some of the daily requirements our public health
officers encounter. We have very few reserves in the state budget and we
don’t have monies dedicated to address a public health emergency," said
Bailey, ranking Republican of the House Health Care Committee.
This week, Bailey
introduced House Bill 2326, a measure that would establish a dedicated
fund for local public health departments to help them address current
and future health needs.
"Washington will receive $4 billion in annual payments over the next 25
years from the settlement against tobacco companies. We would take
surplus tobacco settlement funds that have not been securitized for the
budget – about $35 million in the next biennium – and dedicate it to our
local public health departments to help meet future health crises as
well as day-to-day needs," said Bailey. "That’s what these tobacco
monies were intended for – to meet our public health needs."
During a procedural motion
Thursday, Bailey moved that the bill be brought directly to the House
floor for a vote. The motion failed on a party-line vote.
Bailey echoed her concerns
today as the House prepared to vote on Senate Bill 5581 to direct
tobacco settlement monies toward a new Life Sciences Research Discovery
fund.
"We’re putting the cart
before the horse. The governor is recommending that we dedicate tobacco
monies to the Life Sciences fund. But first, we need to make sure our
public health departments are properly funded. I believe we should
continue to use the tobacco monies for their intended use – health
care," said Bailey. "We’re moving way too fast on this life sciences
fund. We should study the ethics, the funding, the scope of the
research, the constitutionality of the issue, and the ultimate return on
the taxpayers’ investment."
Bailey co-sponsored an
amendment that would further study funding and the goals of the Life
Sciences Research Center. The amendment failed.
"We have a serious health
alert this week and Washington is not prepared. Let’s make sure our
local public health departments are first adequately equipped before we
move forward into uncharted territories," concluded Bailey.
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For more information, contact:
John
Handy, Assistant Director: (360) 786-5758
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