STAT: Congress needs to back legislation supporting disaster preparedness
Nicolette Louissaint, executive director of Healthcare Ready

“…Aimed at reauthorizing an earlier law, [the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act of 2018] would ensure that the U.S. is poised to effectively prevent, detect, and respond to threats that could weaken public health. … To continue building on the progress the U.S. has made in disaster preparedness, we must foster partnerships across government and the private sector that can truly move the needle. … In recent disease outbreaks, mobilizing a rapid pathway to creating medical countermeasures, such as a vaccine that can prevent death from an Ebola infection or rapid diagnostics to earlier detect flu or other infections, has been possible because of the existence of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. That program, and others like it, would cease to exist if the preparedness act is not reauthorized. … BARDA is essential for supporting the creation of countermeasures for a pandemic caused by a new or emerging infectious disease for which there is otherwise no market and therefore no incentive for companies to pursue development. … We need this legislation to build a 21st century public health infrastructure that can effectively respond to today’s threats, and tomorrow’s” (6/15).