Washington, DC, February 4, 2004 - Our nation's public health system faces continued rising demands - protecting against bioterrorism, emerging infections such as West Nile virus and SARS and an increasing chronic disease burden - yet remains woefully underfunded, said the nation's largest organization of public health professionals. Today it called on Congress today to increase the budget for public health.
"Our nation's public health system is stretched to its limits," said Georges C. Benjamin, MD, FACP, executive director of the American Public Health Association. "Faced with new challenges and a shrinking work force along with unprecedented health care costs and numbers of uninsured Americans, we need more resources to adequately protect the health of the nation. We look to Congress to increase support for public health."
The association seeks to significantly improve upon President Bush's fiscal year 2005 budget proposal released this week.
"As far as public health is concerned, there are very few bright spots in the president's proposal," said Benjamin. These include modest funding increases for food safety programs through the Food and Drug Administration, the Steps to a Healthier U.S. chronic disease initiative and community health centers.
Despite strong popular support for increased spending on public health, funding for public health in the administration's budget doesn't even keep pace with inflation. According to a January 2004 poll from the American Cancer Society and the Trust for America's Health, more than three in four Americans want the federal government to spend more on public health, protecting against major diseases and emerging bio-threats.