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Washington Update
In the wake of the recent anthrax attacks, some of the hottest news on the Hill centers on a single theme: how public health agencies communicate.
Federal health officials informed a House subcommittee that agencies are stepping up their efforts to improve national communication networks linking public health agencies, but still need significant financial investments to meet their goals. Edward Baker, director of the CDC's Public Health Practice Program Office, said that his agency is making "substantial progress" in developing and implementing initiatives at the federal, state and local levels. To date, 13 states have linked all of their counties to the agency's Health Alert Network; 68 percent of the counties in the remaining 37 states are now linked to HAN. Also under development are the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System and the Epidemic Information Exchange, which will eventually complement HAN.
In a document published in the Dec. 12, 2001, Federal Register, President Bush granted the Health and Human Services secretary authority to classify information as secret. Before the designation, HHS had to ask other agencies to classify information on its behalf. A White House official explained that HHS is a homeland security agency and that "One of the things you do in the homeland security business is deal with classified information." HHS spokesperson William Pierce said that he expected only a narrow subset of documents, primarily related to bioterrorism and preparedness for biological attack, to be classified.
On Jan. 14, 2002, an article in The Washington Post reported another change that could drastically alter the flow of information from HHS. In what is being billed as an attempt to improve the quality of health-related information that is disseminated to the public, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson is consolidating the more than 50 different communications, legislative and public affairs offices currently operating under HHS' umbrella. The department hopes the result will be a unified voice, but critics note that the move will impose unprecedented controls over information release and suggest that it may be nothing more than an effort to enhance the appearance of a unified department. A communications director who requested anonymity was quoted as saying, "The worst thing is that the people who will be controlling the information flow are going to be spin doctors instead of medical doctors." He also voiced concerns that the move was made at a time when there is no FDA commissioner or NIH director, so that the HSS secretary can get permanent control. One practical consequence of the consolidation will be the need for reporters to obtain permission before speaking with experts at the FDA, NIH and other agencies.
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