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THIS ISSUE AVAILABLE ONLINE WITH EXPANDED INFORMATION AND PHOTOS AT:
www.hhs.gov/news/newsletter/weekly

IN THIS ISSUE:
1) President Bush Announces Smallpox Plan
2) HHS Awards $13 Million to Create and Expand Health Centers
3) HHS Responds to Guam Typhoon Disaster
4) HHS Announces Pilot Tests to Measure Quality of American Hospitals
5) HHS Proposes New Regulations For Fair Treatment of Religious Grantee Organizations
6) HHS Sends $100 Million to Indian Country to Prevent and Treat Diabetes
7) Treatment for Addiction to Prescription Painkillers and Heroin Now Available in Physicians' Offices

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President Bush Announces Smallpox Plan

President George W. Bush, standing with HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and other Cabinet members and advisors, announced a plan to protect the American people against the threat of smallpox attack by hostile groups or governments. The announcement was made at the White House on Friday, Dec. 13.

"This plan is a sound, effective step toward protecting all Americans from the threat of smallpox-related bioterrorism," Secretary Thompson said. "It balances the need for preparedness with the realities of the threat. HHS stands ready to implement the President's plan."

Under the plan, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will work with state and local governments to form volunteer Smallpox Response Teams that can provide critical services to their fellow Americans in the event of a smallpox attack.
To ensure that Smallpox Response Teams can mobilize immediately in an emergency, health care workers and other critical personnel will be asked to volunteer to receive the smallpox vaccine.

The federal government is not recommending vaccination for the general public at this time. Public health agencies will work to accommodate members of the general public who insist on being vaccinated.

Although there is no reason to believe that smallpox presents an imminent threat, the attacks of September and October, 2001, have heightened concern that terrorists may have access to the virus and attempt to use it against the American public. Immediately after these attacks, HHS began working, in cooperation with state and local governments, to strengthen preparedness for bioterror attacks by expanding the national stockpile of smallpox vaccine. The United States currently has sufficient quantities of the vaccine to vaccinate every single person in the country in an emergency.

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HHS Awards $13 Million to Create and Expand Health Centers

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced 42 grants worth more than $13 million to create new health center sites and expand capacity at existing centers in 23 states. The grants are expected to provide health care services for an additional 195,000 Americans.

The awards are the latest expansion under President Bush's five-year plan to add or expand health centers in 1,200 communities by 2006 and to increase the number of patients served annually to more than 16 million -- up from 10 million in 2001. In fiscal year 2002, the first full year of the President's initiative, HHS funded 171 new health center sites and awarded 131 grants to existing centers to help them build capacity and expand services.

"We intend to build upon last year's success and continue working hard toward our long-term goal of doubling the number of patients treated at health centers," Secretary Thompson said. "The President's plan will make sure more Americans get the prenatal care, checkups, preventive treatments and other services they need to get better or stay healthy."

Health centers deliver preventive and primary care to patients regardless of their ability to pay. Nearly half of the patients treated at health centers have no insurance coverage, and others have inadequate coverage. Charges for health care services are set according to income, and fees are not collected from the poorest clients.

Today's grants include 20 New Access Points awards worth almost $8.3 million and 22 Expanded Medical Capacity grants totaling more than $4.7 million. HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) manages the Consolidated Health Center Program, which received more than $1.3 billion in fiscal year 2002. The program funds a national network of more than 3,400 community health centers and clinics, migrant health centers, health care for the homeless centers, public housing primary care centers and school-based health centers.

President Bush's fiscal year 2003 budget requested almost $1.5 billion for health centers -- a $114 million increase from the fiscal year 2002 allocation and about $280 million above the funding level of two years ago. The proposed increase for fiscal year 2003 alone would provide services to a million additional patients around the country.

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HHS Responds to Guam Typhoon Disaster

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced that HHS is sending a total of 117 volunteer doctors, nurses and other professionals to Guam to assist in Typhoon Pongasang response operations. An HHS advance medical assessment team is already on its way to the island.

"The storm hit Guam hard and severely damaged Memorial Hospital," Secretary Thompson said. "Our health care professionals will work with local public health officials and provide medical assistance to those in need."

The volunteers are members of HHS' Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs) from San Diego, Calif. and Toledo, Ohio. In addition to regular team staffing, five critical care nurses, five emergency room nurses, and 5 respiratory therapists will go along to support hospital operations. Two Deployable Rapid Assembly Shelter systems are being shipped for use as temporary facilities until more permanent services are available.

HHS disaster medical response is part of the National Disaster Medical System, a volunteer network of more than 8,000 doctors, nurses and other health and support personnel from both the public and private sectors. The DMATs include specialized teams to handle burns, pediatrics, crush injuries, surgery, mental health and incidents involving weapons of mass destruction.

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HHS Announces Pilot Tests to Measure Quality of American Hospitals

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson applauded the nation's hospital leadership for new steps they announced toward providing public information on quality of care, and he joined in calling on hospitals throughout the nation to participate in the voluntary effort. He also announced steps HHS will take to help develop and refine quality measures for hospitals, including a three-state pilot project and a standardized patient experience survey instrument.

"I am excited and proud to work with America's hospitals on this important step forward for the quality information movement," Secretary Thompson said. "In the past year, we joined with nursing homes to make quality information available on individual nursing facilities. We are eager to work with others throughout the health care sector to make quality disclosure a robust and helpful element throughout our health care system."

The American Hospital Association, the Federation of American Hospitals and the Association of American Medical Colleges committed to work toward having all U.S. hospitals voluntarily report outcomes of 10 quality measures relating to the care provided to patients, including millions of Medicare beneficiaries.

Secretary Thompson announced that HHS will support the new hospital information effort with a three-state pilot project in Maryland, New York and Arizona. Conducted by HHS' Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), with the Quality Improvement Organizations in each state, the pilot will test the most effective ways to communicate with consumers about hospital quality of care.

Secretary Thompson also announced that HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is working with experts in the health care industry to develop a standardized patient experience survey. Most hospitals in the United States conduct patient surveys, usually for internal use, using private vendors. AHRQ is developing a standard format for collecting and reporting patient experience data that can be used to compare experiences at different hospitals. The new standardized format will also be tested in the new three-state pilot project.

In addition to the CMS and AHRQ efforts, HHS' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is also preparing to test a National Healthcare Safety Network, which will track information relevant to hospital patient and health care worker safety. The new network will collect data electronically, and will make prevention guidelines and other information available to all health facilities.

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HHS Proposes New Regulations For Fair Treatment of Religious Grantee Organizations

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced proposed regulations to clarify the rights and requirements for religious organizations that use HHS funds in delivering services to needy Americans. The regulations are part of President Bush's Faith-Based and Community Initiative.

"Our goal is to help more faith- and community based organizations learn how they can partner in our programs," HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said. "These organizations will be more willing to work with us if we make it clear how our partnership will work. The rules we are proposing today provide a clear structure, so that religious organizations that want to use HHS funding for service delivery can move ahead with confidence."

The proposed rules would ensure that religious organizations are treated equally with others when applying for HHS funds and would also protect them from having to make changes affecting their religious character when using those funds. It also makes clear that organizations must serve all individuals who are eligible for HHS services equally, regardless of their religious affiliation or beliefs.

In addition, the proposed regulations clarify that federal funds may not be used to pay for religious activities and that persons who are served by federal programs may not be required to take part in those activities.

The proposed regulations build on HHS' efforts earlier this year aimed at assisting smaller faith- and community-based organizations. In October, HHS awarded $30 million to smaller faith-based and community organizations across the country.

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HHS Sends $100 Million to Indian Country to Prevent and Treat Diabetes

At a national conference on diabetes prevention in American Indian communities, HHS announced $100 million in grants to support programs to prevent and treat diabetes among American Indians and Alaska Natives.

"These grants support hundreds of programs to help people in Indian Country who are at risk for diabetes to take the right steps to prevent the disease's onset and to provide needed services to those who already have diabetes," HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said. "All Americans should know that you don't have to be a marathon runner or starve yourself to prevent diabetes. You can take small steps to become more active and improve your diet that will make a real difference."

Funded through HHS' Indian Health Service (IHS), the grants will go to 318 tribal, urban Indian, Indian organizations and IHS health programs to support diabetes prevention and treatment programs, including efforts to reduce cardiovascular disease associated with diabetes. Most of these programs involve elements aimed at preventing type 2 diabetes among Indian youth.

About 17 million Americans have diabetes today, including about 16 million with type 2. In addition, at least 16 million more Americans have pre-diabetes -- a condition that raises a person's risk of getting type 2 diabetes. On average, American Indians and Alaska Natives are 2.6 times more likely to have diabetes than non-Hispanic whites of similar age.

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Treatment for Addiction to Prescription Painkillers and Heroin Now Available in Physicians' Offices

A new medication, buprehorphine, will soon be available to treat addiction to prescription painkillers and heroin and can be prescribed by physicians in the their own offices. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) launched a professional and public education initiative in 14 cities to inform the public and physicians about the new treatment. The manufacturer told a SAMHSA press conference that buprenorphine will be on pharmacists' shelves in January.

"The availability of buprenorphine heralds a new day in the treatment of addiction," SAMHSA Administrator Charles G. Curie said. "With this new medication, qualified physicians will, for the first time, be able to prescribe an anti-addiction medication to their patients in their office and treat heroin and opioid addiction just like any other medical condition, such as diabetes or hypertension."

In order to prescribe buprenorphine, physicians must obtain a waiver from a provision of the federal Controlled Substances Act and complete the minimum eight hours of training mandated by Congress. SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) has taken the lead in educating and training physicians. To date, more than 2,000 physicians have completed training and more than 300 physicians, representing 48 states and Puerto Rico, have received the necessary waivers.

Approved by the Food and Drug Administration, (FDA), this new medication will not replace methadone therapy, provided through special methadone treatment facilities, but will allow physicians to treat patients in their offices.

Training and information is available online at www.buprehorphine.samhsa.gov and SAMHSA has established a Buprenorphine Information Center, which can be reached toll-free at 866-BUP-CSAT weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST, or via e-mail at info@buprenorphine.samhsa.gov.

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Last updated 13 December 2002
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