US Health Secretary warns of bio-terrorism

IRELAND should take measures to prepare for a series of likely bio-terrorist attacks, a top Bush administration official warned yesterday.

US Health Secretary Tommy Thompson, who controls a budget the size of Italy’s GNP, said such an attack was imminent or at least likely.

He said he would be “offering assistance to your Minister of Health...Ireland is a very close ally and friend.”

Mr Thompson, here for a conference organised by the Irish Bio-industry Association, outlined some of the measures currently being taken by the Bush administration to counter the growing threat of bio-terrorism.

“As of January last, Congress has appropriated $1.1 billion to my department to foster and create a bio-technological infrastructure protection system and we have developed a programme together with the individual States.”

“We have produced a great deal of smallpox vaccine and are in the process of purchasing over two million phials of vaccine.”

The Health Secretary explained his trip to Ireland was delayed by almost 24 hours because he was called in by President Bush to discuss counter-measures against bio-terrorism.

“I would suggest strongly that all countries, Ireland included, should start getting prepared.”

Mr Thompson said it was up to the Irish Government to decide whether it should stockpile smallpox vaccine.

“We have decided to expand our purchases and have put stocks of antibiotics in place in 12 strategic areas. This means that we can get 20 tons of antibiotics into a particular city within seven hours if necessary.”

Mr Thompson is the first Cabinet Secretary in the Bush administration to visit Ireland and he has arrived as part of a high-powered group which includes the Director of the US Institutes of Health, Dr Elias Zermouha, and the Director of America’s National Cancer Institute, Dr Andrew von Eschenbach.

Secretary Thompson said there is considerable scope for partnerships and collaborative activity between US and Irish companies and educational institutions.

Students could be sponsored to come from Ireland to the US and vice versa. Mr Thompson added that grants totalling $27 billion are available in his budget for research. A total of 38,000 grants are handed out for research, some of which could go to people in Ireland.

Already, Irish and US researchers are collaborating under the auspices of America’s National Cancer consortium.

“Physicians in Belfast, Dublin and the US National Cancer Institute are already interacting and consulting on treatment planning, discussing interventions that are required by patients almost immediately.”