Territory awarded $140,000 to strengthen flu
pandemic preparedness

American Samoa is the recipient of $140,000 in supplemental funding to spruce up its preparedness for a flu pandemic. The announcement was made earlier this month by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the granting agency.

Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands received the same funding amount.

The money comes from an appropriation of $75 million set aside for states and territories to strengthen their capability to respond to a influenza pandemic outbreak, if one should ever occur.

In June, the US Department of Health and Human Services had already set aside $430 million in grant money for hospitals and other health care facilities to help strengthen their response systems in cases of bio terror attacks, infectious diseases, or natural disasters.

In related health news, both the American Samoa Government and the Independent State of Samoa have nominated officials to serve as initial ‘points of contact’ for a task force set up to develop protocols for sharing and disseminating health information and responding to epidemic and infectious disease outbreaks.

The nominees include American Samoa Attorney General Fepulea’i Afa Ripley, Department of Health director Uto’ofili Asofaafetai Maga, LBJ Medical Center’s Chief Medical Officer Aloiamoa Anesi, Samoa’s CEO of the Health Ministry, CEO of Samoa Health Services, ACEO of the Ministry of Prime Minister (Immigration), and the CEO of the Ministry of Agriculture.

The subject was one of the topics on the agenda during last week’s Samoa Talks held in Apia and led by Governor Togiola Tulafono and Samoa’s Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi.

Both men agree to the sharing of information and establishing a direct communication link in the event of an epidemic/outbreak of infectious diseases, saying that such action is paramount for the protection, safety, and welfare of our people.

At the conclusion of the event, the two government leaders expressed agreement that Joint Disaster Preparedness is a priority issue, and that it be reinstated as an agenda item for subsequent inter island talks.

American Samoa is scheduled to host the 2008 Samoa Talks.