New Report from The Century Foundation Looks at Effect of Federal Funds on States' Ability to Respond to Bioterrorism

1/27/2004

From: Christy Hicks of The Century Foundation, 212-452-7723 or hicks@tcf.org

News Advisory:

-- Audio Press Conference

In 2002, in the wake of the anthrax attacks, Congress sent 1.6 billion dollars to states and cities toward public health and bioterrorism preparedness. Two new reports from The Century Foundation look at whether those dollars have helped us to become better prepared to respond to a terrorist attack. In Progress and Peril: Bioterrorism Preparedness Dollars and Public Health, Elin Gursky, a senior fellow at the ANSER Institute for Homeland Security, looks at the progress made in states around the country, based on a national survey and interviews with local officials. In Illinois: Preparedness at a Price, Bernard Turnock, director of the Center for Public Health Practice at the University of Illinois at Chicago, provides an in-depth study of one state's efforts to improve its ability to deal with such an emergency.

Among the questions to be discussed during an audio conference on Thursday, Jan. 29 at 11 a.m. EST are:

-- Are we better prepared for a terrorist attack today than we were two years ago?

-- How have states and cities used this money?

-- Are the federal dollars adequate?

-- Can we prepare for bioterrorism without neglecting other critical public health functions, such as vaccinating children?

WHEN: 11 a.m.-noon EST, Thursday, Jan. 29

WHO:

-- Elin Gursky, senior fellow, ANSER Institute for Homeland Security

-- Bernard Turnock, director of the Center for Public Health Practice, University of Illinois at Chicago

HOW: Please call Jennifer Hudman at 301-652-1558 to reserve a line for the audio conference. To access the audio conference, call 800-297-9150 and reference the "Century Foundation call" and the conference ID number 372163.

A replay of the audio conference will be available from 2 p.m. EST, Jan. 29, until 11:59 p.m. EST on Feb. 5. To access the playback recording, call, 1-888-852-5733 and reference the conference ID number above.

For more information about the report or to interview the authors for interviews, please contact Christy Hicks at 212-452- 7723 or hicks@tcf.org.

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The Century Foundation is a research foundation that undertakes timely, critical, and analytical studies of major economic, political, and social institutions and issues. Nonprofit and nonpartisan, TCF was founded in 1919 and endowed by Edward A. Filene.