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For Immediate Release October 2, 2002 Press ReleaseCDC provides $1.2 million
to fund pilot program for early warning system for terrorism-related
illness outbreaks
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced today
that $1.2 million is being awarded to the Harvard Consortium for a pilot
program to develop an early warning system for terrorism attacks. The
project would be just one element of a national warning system and will
utilize managed care networks that already exist, scanning these systems
continually for clusters of illness. The Harvard Consortium will develop a pilot national platform that
connects 20 million ambulatory care patient records in all 50 states. The
goal of the project is to develop a computer operating system that can
interconnect information from various types of medical systems and health
departments so that health professionals can get an early warning of a
terrororism attack. If successful, the platform will serve as a model for
a national syndromic surveillance system. "This system will be able to locate pockets of illness that might
represent an intentional attack of terrorism and will give us an early
warning of such an attack," says U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson. "The demonstration program will include a rapid response
capability to notify public health officials of unusual occurrences as
soon as the information becomes available," said Dr. Julie
Gerberding, director of CDC. "The results of this project will help
us more fully develop systems that extend our capacity to detect and
respond to a terrorism attack at the earliest possible moment, while
ensuring appropriate care to all patients." The consortium also includes Massachusetts-based Harvard Pilgrim Health
Care (HPHC), a managed health care organization through which the grant
will be administered; Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, a large,
private group practice, as well as Harvard Medical School faculty at the
HMS/HSPH department of ambulatory care and prevention and Brigham and
Women's Hospital. Also included are Minnesota-based HealthPartners
Research Foundation, the research wing of the similarly named health plan,
medical group and center for health promotion; and Optum, a diversified
health care company that will provide its experience with its national
nurse telephone triage and health information service. Kaiser Permanente
of Colorado, a member of Kaiser Permanente's nine-state health maintenance
organization network, and the Washington, D.C.-based American Association
of Health Plans, are also equal members of the consortium. ### CDC protects people's health and safety by preventing and
controlling diseases and injuries; enhances health decisions by providing
credible information on critical health issues; and promotes healthy
living through strong partnerships with local, national and international
organizations. |
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