WASHINGTON, July 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On behalf of
the American BioDefense Institute, we commend Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona on proposing an amendment to the
H.R.6395 - William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. We submit this statement
for the record to urge Congress to include this amendment into the
final bill to provide useful rapid pandemic response
capabilities.
This amendment would add the Pandemic Prevention Platform to
H.R.6395, obliging the Secretary of Defense to establish a program
"to implement and advance the development of rapid and
cost-effective medical countermeasures to pandemics." The objective
is to ensure that our nation has the capability to respond to any
pandemic within 60 days of identifying a virus or other pathogen
and make every effort to reduce this time frame to 28 days. This
would provide unprecedented capabilities to contain and suppress
any pandemic before it spreads.
This initiative addresses a bipartisan issue. The development of
rapid pandemic response tools is a vital national security issue
and a public health issue. Congressman Gosar has rightly recognized
that pandemic prevention is a vital issue that has not been
appropriately recognized until now. Given the current COVID-19
pandemic and its broader economic and social consequences, it is
necessary to take action to prevent any future pandemic from having
a similar effect.
One of the vital provisions of the amendment is the challenge to
the American ingenuity to reduce the time frame of the rapid
pandemic response from 60 days to 28 days. In the first 60 days of
a pandemic, every day is crucial, and being able to deploy pandemic
countermeasures as early as possible is vital in saving lives. This
amendment recognizes the importance of this and also recognizes
that American companies and research institutions are capable of
developing cutting-edge pandemic response tools with the U.S.
government's support.
The development of rapid pandemic response tools holds the
promise of effectively countering any future emerging infectious
disease at its source. By preventing its spread worldwide and
containing it and eradicating it if it reaches the U.S. These tools
can be used both as a therapy for the infected patients and as a
passive immunization method to prevent further infections and
spread of the disease.
The American BioDefense Institute urges Congress to
accept this amendment to the H.R.6395 - William M. (Mac) Thornberry
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. And ensure
that the U.S. healthcare system is equipped to deal with any future
pandemic effectively and that the American people are given the
pandemic protection they deserve. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has
shown that this is a vital issue of both national security and
public health, and a necessary measure to protect the U.S. economy
and the American way of life.
For more information contact
Neilfoote@ascendantgroupbranding.com, 214.448.3765
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SOURCE American BioDefense Institute