Dive Brief:
- Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton announced her intention this week to create a "Public Health Rapid Response Fund" to provide quick and predictable relief in the event of future public health emergencies from threats such as diseases, water-borne illnesses, bioterrorism and extreme weather.
- The move is in response to Congress' continued inability to agree on how to fund a response to the spreading Zika threat despite its steady encroachment onto U.S. soil, with more than 2,000 cases in the continental U.S. and 196 locally transmitted cases in Miami that Clinton describes as preventable infections.
- At the same time, Clinton stated her support for bolstering the nation's overall public health infrastructure through avenues including further preparedness for biological threats and bioweapons; research for new diagnostic tests, treatments and vaccines for emerging diseases; ensuring that public health and environmental health practices are a standard aspect of medical education; and providing resources to state and local governments to plan for complex threats including climate change.
Dive Insight:
Congress' ongoing inaction has brought frustration and criticism from both sides of the political divide, as it failed to pass President Obama's emergency funding request -- made back in February -- and then recently went on its seven-week hiatus without resolving the matter due to other hot-button political issues lawmakers attached to the legislation including defunding of Planned Parenthood, which supporters hold up as one of the best defenses against a microcephaly epidemic through unintended pregnancies prevention efforts.
Without Congress able to agree on a "clean" funding bill in a timely manner, it's clear the current system isn't working for urgent public health response. Congress is scheduled to return after Labor Day in September, having left the nation in limbo in the meantime.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell argued earlier this month that based on data from the OMB, the White House has sufficient money to address the issue thanks to $589 million transferred earlier this year from other programs, of which $384 million is still unspent.