Memo: The United States and her Canadian ally’s capability to respond to a global pandemic.
Members of the executive committee; before you is our state’s preparedness for a global pandemic. Whether the threat is world war three or a natural threat, such as disease, it is not the time to site at ease we need to prepare.
The threat of a nuclear attack is minimal for the notion of mutually assured destruction. For example during the Cold War the USSR and the USA, both states with second strike capability, never engaged in direct combat let alone nuclear war. This is because if the USSR had launched intercontinental ballistic missiles against us their state would be destroyed as well due to our second strike capability. There are two ways in which a nuclear launch could be conceivable. First if a state developed a missile defense system effective enough to render their rival’s arsenals useless. Without threat of nuclear reprisal they could launch a nuclear attack. Second an irrational actor of the international system gets its hands on nuclear material. Nuclear deterrence assumes that all states that have nuclear arms are led by rational people. However, if a terrorist organization got its hands on nuclear arms a nuclear launch could be possible. Whether you feel that they are irrational; or that not being a state confined to a geographical location their fear of nuclear or even military reprisal is almost non-existent.
The threat of military invasion of North America is minimal even with our military stretched with the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Again our nuclear capabilities should make states hesitant to engage in military action against us. In addition the only threats are the great powers all of which would have to cross either the Atlantic of Pacific oceans to get to us. Also we are protected by NATO, since under the security clause advocating collective security an attack on one member is an attack on all. To remind the committee there are currently twenty eight NATO member states.
A global pandemic such as a new disease could possibly be the greatest threat to our state. Yes North America is relatively isolated only sharing a border with Mexico however, once inside our borders a disease could spread rather rapidly. Shutting down our air ports and ports is relatively easy. In addition deploying the coast guard to ensure that the travel ban is administered would be a good idea. The Mexican border is relatively secure in the sense that there is no military threat from Mexico however; illegal immigrants get across the border daily. A disease if it is to come to the Americas is likely to hit Mexico before it hits the USA since their sanitation, standard of living, and ability to deal with health issues is below ours. If a disease starts to show the signs of becoming a global pandemic in the third world we need to strengthen our borders ensuring zero entry.
Such a crisis will cause panic; the National Guard should be deployed to keep the peace and control population movements. We should begin to start stockpiling our medical facilities with anivirals and vaccines. In addition work with the medical industry to expand our production capacity of these medical countermeasures. Our research centers will be our most valuable asset, since knowing how to combat this disease will greatly improve our chance of survival.
Major components for our preparedness and ready response actions should include:
- Intensifying surveillance and collaborating on containment measures – both international and domestic;
- Stockpiling of antivirals and vaccines and working with industry to expand capacity for production of these medical countermeasures;
- Creating a seamless network of Federal, state and local preparedness, including increasing health care surge capacity; and
- Developing the public education and communications efforts that will be so critical to keeping the public informed [HHS Pandemic Influenza Plan].
Our strategy should be based on an understanding of pandemics and influenza disease, and be guided by several principles.
- Effectiveness will require coordination among Federal, state, local governments, and their partners in the private sector.
- To minimize health effects the public must be informed and responsive.
- An increase in our vaccine production capacity is needed to cover the entire USA population.
- Quantities of antiviral drugs sufficient to treat twenty five percent of the U.S. population should be stockpiled.
Sustained human-to-human transmission anywhere in the world will be the triggering event to initiate a pandemic response by the U.S.
When possible and appropriate, basic public health measures will be employed to reduce person-to-person viral transmission and prevent or delay influenza outbreaks.
At the start of a pandemic, vaccine, which will initially be in short supply, will be procured and distributed to state and local health departments for immunization of predetermined priority groups.
At the onset of a pandemic, antiviral drugs from public stockpiles will be distributed to predetermined priority groups [HHS Pandemic influenza Plan /pandemicflu/plan/]
We do not want to repeat the past with the H1N1 outbreak that revealed gaps in the military pandemic plans. “The rapid spread of swine flu from Mexico surprised Pentagon officials, who had been focused on a possible Asian-borne pandemic in a response plan that would give the military a last-resort role in helping to impose quarantines and border restrictions [Lolita Baldor the Associated Press/ H1N1 outbreak reveals military pandemic plans, gaps/http://www.ems1.com].” Once inside the boarders of the USA a disease will spread quickly, preemptive security measures are necessary.
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