FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 29, 2005
Contact: Jeff Kasper: (907) 465-8194, Cell (907) 321-3158
Sherry Hill: Cell (907) 321-2838, (907) 465-1618
Commissioner Jackson announces Governor’s public health preparedness priorities
Governor committed to ensuring state is ready for public health emergencies
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( Anchorage, Alaska) – Department of Health & Social Services Commissioner Karleen Jackson today affirmed Governor Murkowski’s commitment to ensuring the state public health agency can meet Alaska’s needs during a public health emergency, such as a flu pandemic. Jackson announced the Governor’s proposed $7.2 million fiscal 07 initiatives for infectious disease control preparedness at the 23 rd annual Public Health Summit in Anchorage at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage.
“We are better prepared for public health emergencies than ever before with the new public health legislation we passed last year,” Jackson said. “However, Alaska is both geographically set to be the first in the U.S. to have migrating birds arrive with avian flu, and is at the cross-roads for travel and cargo transportation with the Far East. We must strengthen our surveillance capacity and outbreak response to promote and protect the health of Alaskans.”
The governor’s initiatives include sustaining and strengthening the foundation of core public health functions to enable the division to respond appropriately to public health emergencies.
“We need to put some building blocks in place to not only combat long standing health problems, but to give the department a strong foundation to respond quickly to public health emergencies ─ to track the situation, to mount mass vaccination and prophylaxis clinics, to rapidly diagnose cases, and to institute control measures to contain the spread of disease,” said Public Health director Richard Mandsager, M.D.
The public health initiatives in the governor’s fiscal year 07 budget proposal include:
Infectious disease control and emergency preparedness: Additional assistance to manage infectious disease and to prepare for emergencies, including a strong public health laboratory system to ensure that infectious diseases are diagnosed rapidly, additional public health nurses to address rising demands of infectious disease prevention and to allow for rapid response in disease outbreaks, and to establish a small supply of antiviral drugs in Alaska. This fiscal year 07 proposal includes a new state investment of $3.9 million, which matches $800,000 of federal funds for a total of $4.7 million.
Immunization and disease registries: An immunization registry and electronic disease surveillance capacities to help ensure that each child is protected from devastating vaccine-preventable diseases, and to support rapid identification and control of disease outbreaks. This fiscal 07 request totals $2.5 million. This fiscal year 07 request totals $2.5 million (which includes approximately $2 million capital funds and $500,000 operating funds).
“ Alaska children frequently receive immunizations in a variety of settings, resulting in scattered and incomplete immunization records,” said Mandsager. “Without the presence of a statewide, centralized registry system in place, medical providers, schools and parents expend a huge amount of time and effort to determine each child’s immunization history.”
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Fact Sheet: FY07 Public health initiatives needed to protect Alaskans (PDF 51KB)
Fact Sheet: Flu, bird flu, and flu pandemics (PDF 58KB)
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