Washington, DC - Congressman Edolphus "Ed" Towns (D-Brooklyn) announced today that the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, has agreed to examine whether the current rush to inoculate millions of local public health officials against smallpox is jeopardizing other bioterrorism priorities as well as basic health care functions traditionally performed by public health departments.  Towns made the request to the agency earlier this month.

"I am very pleased that the GAO has agreed to take a close look at this very important public health issue," Congressman Towns said. "No one would dispute the fact that we have to do everything we can to be ready for a possible small pox attack.  However, as we move forward on inoculating public health officials, we must make sure that we are not doing so at the expense of caring for actual, everyday public health needs," explained Towns who is a former administrator at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City.   

On December 13, 2002 President Bush called on the public health community to inoculate as many as 10.5 million medical workers and emergency responders in anticipation of a possible bioterrorism attack involving small pox.

However, according to a National Association of County and City Health Officialsƒ­ study, small pox inoculation campaigns have caused 79% of local health departments to divert staff and money away from other initiatives to protect the public from chemical, radiological, and other biological agents such as anthrax.  Additionally, more than half of the public health departments report that they have delayed or cancelled traditional public health initiatives, which can involve prenatal care, check-ups for low-income children, flu vaccinations, and AIDS prevention.

Towns noted that inoculation programs are just beginning.  So far, in New York City about 138 public health officials, emergency management personnel, and first responders have been inoculated.  The City expects to inoculate 15,000 public health and safety officials as part of its phase 1 inoculation plan.  "If we donƒ­t identify the problems and try to fix them now, our public health system will be in shambles when millions of officials across the country are getting inoculated."
 
The GAO sent a letter to Towns formally agreeing to undertake the study, which will examine whether local health departments have diverted funds to meet the demands of small pox inoculations and if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have exercised appropriate oversight of these programs.