The President’s fiscal 2005 budget request includes $274
million to develop bio-terror surveillance and to strengthen
the public health infrastructure, Homeland Security
Secretary Tom Ridge and Health and Human Services Secretary
Tommy G. Thompson have announced.
The bio-surveillance initiative is intended to develop
current surveillance programs in areas such as human and
animal health, hospital preparedness, vaccine research and
procurement, food and agriculture safety and environmental
monitoring, eventually integrating those programs, according
to DHS.
Bush’s program initiative directs DHS to spend $129 million
to upgrade and expand BioWatch and create a system to
integrate a range of government surveillance information.
Additionally, HHS would spend $135 million on labs, human
health monitoring and food inspection, and the Department
of Agriculture would spend $10 million on food inspection.
Since 9/11 the Administration has spent or budgeted $12.9
billion on bio-terror defense, says DHS.