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THIS ISSUE AVAILABLE ONLINE WITH EXPANDED INFORMATION AND PHOTOS
AT:
www.hhs.gov/news/newsletter/weekly
IN THIS ISSUE:
1) HHS Unveils New Command Center
2) U.S. to Help Improve Preparedness Worldwide
3) Report on Co-occurring Disorders Goes to Congress
4) Study Identifies SIDS Risk Factors
5) Indian Health Service Executives Receive Presidential Rank Award
6) Secretary Thompson to Discuss Health Care Choice at Minnesota
Town Hall
7) Secretary Thompson Promotes Long-Term Care Solutions
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HHS Unveils New Command Center
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson unveiled the department's new command center in the Hubert H. Humphrey Building. The center will enable HHS and the Secretary to monitor, track, and respond to public health issues and emergencies from one centralized location.
"Our new command center allows us to stay in touch with first responders and emergency personnel even in the event of a national emergency," Secretary Thompson said. "The completion of this command center is a major step forward in our efforts to prepare for and respond to bioterrorist and public health emergency events."
The department will use the new command center as the focal point of a new, coordinated communication system with all federal, state, and local agencies. The capabilities of the center will enable HHS officials to communicate in real time with command centers in the field, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and other federal agencies such as the Federal Eemergency Management Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Central Intelligence Agency. This will allow Secretary Thompson access to up-to-the-minute information, allowing him to make decisions based on the best possible data.
The new command center is equipped with satellite teleconferencing capacity, broadband Internet hookups, and the latest analysis and tracking software. It also boasts a satellite connection that can access almost 4,000 television channels worldwide, enabling close monitoring of media events in every part of the world. The ventilation system of the command center is independent of the rest of the building. This means that the center can continue to operate even if there is an event that forces the evacuation of the rest of the building.
The new command center is continuously staffed with public health personnel.
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U.S. to Help Improve Preparedness Worldwide
Mexico City - HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson reaffirmed the United States' commitment to work closely with its allies around the world in the effort to prepare for bioterrorist and major public health events during the Third Ministerial Meeting on Health Security and Bioterrorism on Friday, Dec. 6.
"In today's world, we are faced with vast challenges - diseases from AIDS to influenza, problems of war and peace, and looming over it all, the threat of terrorism," Secretary Thompson said. "These are indeed challenging times. But we know there are things we can do to meet those challenges. We can meet head-on the threats of known and emerging diseases before they become global pandemics. We can prepare for bioterrorism. And we can work together with our allies to make it happen."
Among the issues discussed by Secretary Thompson and the assembled ministers was a proposed action plan for chemical events, which would set international standards of evaluation and response in the event of a chemical attack or accident. The ministers also discussed a proposed standardized approach to risk management.
Secretary Thompson also endorsed the concept of a Global Strategic Smallpox Vaccine Reserve, to be created from stocks administered by the World Health Organization. This, combined with the Global Health Security Laboratory Network initiative and the Pandemic Influenza Initiative, would represent a significant commitment by the United States and its allies in preparing for the threat of pandemic disease before it happens.
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Report on Co-occurring Disorders Goes to Congress
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson provided Congress with a comprehensive report that emphasizes that people with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders can and do recover with appropriate treatment and support services. The report was prepared by HHS' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
"All too often individuals are treated for only their mental health disorder or substance abuse problem - rarely both," SAMHSA Administrator Charles Curie said. "However, if one of the co-occurring disorders goes untreated, both usually get worse, and additional complications often arise. These include the risk for other serious medical problems, like suicide, unemployment, homelessness, incarceration, and separation from families and friends."
The study identifies the need for federal agencies, state agencies, service providers, researchers, recovering persons, families and others to work together to create a system in which both disorders are addressed as primary and treated as such. The report outlines a five-year blueprint for action to help create a national system that allows "any door to be the right door for the services an individual may need."
The plan includes establishing a national co-occurring disorders prevention and treatment center that can provide cross-training of staff and technical assistance. Also, the report envisions convening a National Summit on Co-occurring Disorders to help states and communities share practices and lessons learned.
According to the report, as many as 10 million individuals in the United States
have at least one mental disorder as well as an alcohol or drug use disorder.
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Study Identifies SIDS Risk Factors
A recent Department of Health and Human Services-funded study of Northern Plains Indians found that infants were less likely to die of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) if their mothers received visits from public health nurses before and after giving birth.
The Aberdeen Area Infant Mortality Study also found that binge drinking during the mother's first trimester of pregnancy made it eight times more likely that her infant would die of SIDS. Also, any alcohol use during the the first three months before pregnancy was associated with a six-fold increased risk of SIDS. In addition, the study found that infants were more likely to die of SIDS if they wore two or more layers of clothing while they slept.
"This study has identified important risk and protective factors for SIDS among this group of American Indians," said Solomon Iyasu, an epidemiologist with the reproductive health program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and lead author of the study. "Strengthening public health nurse visiting programs and programs to reduce alcohol consumption among women of childbearing age could potentially reduce the high rate of SIDS."
Infants in homes where a public health nurse had visited before or after birth were 80 percent less likely to die from SIDS than babies in homes that never had such visits, but the study's authors were unable to draw a conclusion about what aspects of the nurse's visit helped. The Indian Health Service currently recommends that public health nurses make one prenatal home visit and visits at one and six weeks postpartum.
Wearing two or more layers of clothing (not including a diaper) increased a baby's risk for SIDS more than six-fold, the researchers found. This is consistent with other studies showing that excess thermal insulation for a specific room temperature was associated with increased SIDS risk.
"Parents should dress their babies lightly for sleep and maintain a comfortable room temperature. Overdressing them can result in potentially dangerous overheating," said Leslie Randall, a CDC epidemiologist.
The rate of SIDS among American Indians is the highest of any population group
and was slightly more than double that of whites in 1999 - 1.5 SIDS deaths per
1,000 live births compared with 0.7 per 1,000. The rate of SIDS in the Aberdeen
Area of the Indian Health Service, which serves reservations in North and South
Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa, is the highest of all of the 12 Indian Health Service
regions. During 1996 to1998, the rate of SIDS was 3.5 deaths for every 1,000
live births.
In addition, the HHS-supported Back to Sleep Campaign recommends that all infants
be placed on their backs for sleep to reduce the risk of SIDS. Visit <www.nichd.nih.gov/sids/>
for more information.
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Indian Health Service Executives Receive Presidential Rank Award
Margo D. Kerrigan, Director of the California Area Indian Health Service (IHS), and John Hubbard, Jr., Director of the Navajo Area IHS, have been selected as recipients of Presidential Meritorious Rank Awards for 2002.
"Ms. Kerrigan's and Mr. Hubbard's exceptional management skills and long-term professional accomplishments have helped the IHS to improve the health of American Indian and Alaska Native people," HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said. "These winners of this prestigious award are strong professional leaders who have achieved positive results and consistently demonstrated strength, integrity, industry, and a relentless commitment to excellence in public service."
Each year, the president recognizes a small group of career senior executives with the Presidential Rank Award. This prestigious award is given to executives who have demonstrated their ability to make government that deliver great service, foster partnerships and implement community solutions to achieve results. Award winners are nominated by their agency heads, evaluated by boards of private citizens, and approved by the president. The evaluation criteria focus on leadership and results. A description of this award and a list of recipients are available here. (LINK TO www.opm.gov/ses/presrankaward.html)
Ms. Kerrigan, a member of the White Earth (Mississippi) Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, manages a unique health care program provided entirely through contracts as allowed by the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, where tribes establish and maintain responsibility for the development and operation of their health facilities, programs, and services. The California Area serves 103 tribal communities through 26 rural health care operating units, seven urban health programs, and 14 alcohol treatment programs.
Mr. Hubbard, a member of the Navajo Nation, manages the provision of health
care services on the largest American Indian reservation in the United States.
Services offered by the Navajo Area include inpatient and ambulatory clinical,
medical, and surgical care. Maternal and child health services are offered along
with pharmaceutical, dental, mental health, public health nursing, and substance
abuse counseling services.
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Secretary Thompson to Discuss Health Care Choice at Minnesota Town Hall
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson will discuss the value of maximizing available choices in health care as part of an "America Talks Health Care" Town Hall meeting to be held in Minneapolis on Tuesday, Dec. 10.
The Secretary's Town Hall will discuss with consumers, employees, large and small business owners, and health care providers the barriers that make it difficult for Americans to purchase their own health insurance. The meeting will help increase awareness of what can be done to encourage more private ownership of health insurance so that Americans can have more control over the cost and coverage.
"Every American should be able to choose a health care plan that meets their needs at a price they can afford," Secretary Thompson said. "Patients, working with health care professionals, should be trusted to decide which treatment is best for them. When people have good choices and health plans have to compete for their business, it ultimately means higher quality and better care."
In previous town hall meetings, Secretary Thompson and the panelists have focused on issues such as the need to control excessive medical liability awards; the Bush Administration's efforts to extend health insurance to record numbers of Americans; the integration of modern technology into health care; quality control initiatives in medicine; and Secretary Thompson's Prevention Initiative.
The town hall meeting was organized with assistance from the Public Forum Institute,
a non-profit group that plans and promotes civic involvement throughout the
country. Secretary Thompson is scheduled to speak at another Public Forum Institute
Town Hall meeting in Jacksonville, Fla., on Tuesday, Dec. 17.
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Secretary Thompson Promotes Long-Term Care Solutions
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson will discuss solutions to problems in long-term health care in remarks to the Board of Directors of Citizens for Long Term Care. The meeting will take place at the American Association of Homes and Services' national headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Dec. 9.
"Americans who need long-term care assistance should have more control over how they receive the care they need," Secretary Thompson said. "Just as in other areas of health care, tremendous progress in the treatment options available for people with long-term care needs has left government programs struggling to keep up. Too little attention has been paid to the increasing need for flexible, innovative forms of long-term care - in particular, health care assistance that will allow Americans with disabilities the precious opportunity to continue to live and participate in their communities."
Citizens for Long Term Care is a nonpartisan group that works with over 63
member organizations representing long term care providers, insurers, consumer
and disability advocates, professionals and workers.
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