CQ HealthBeat: Disaster Relief Overhaul May Be Model for Viral Threat Fund
“Lawmakers in both parties are eyeing the overhauled Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund as a possible model for a proposed reserve fund to address emerging infectious threats such as the Zika virus. … Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut sees the Disaster Relief Fund as a model for addressing infectious threats. ‘By allocating funding ahead of time, we can better prepare for and respond to these events,’ DeLauro, the ranking Democrat on the House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee, said earlier this year. ‘The U.S. prepares for disasters like hurricanes, and there is no reason why we should not do the same for outbreaks of disease’…” (Young, 7/7).