Please consider adding your name or organization in support of the statement below.
Bio-terrorism seems to be hitting close to home. The natural response is concern for our families and friends. But we don't have to submit to fear - there's something powerful we can do.
A strong public health response can make the difference between a worldwide epidemic and a frightening but quickly contained outbreak of disease. Yet a broad decline in America's investment in public health has left us vulnerable to large-scale health threats, whether they arise naturally or from bio-terrorism.
Please join me in a simple call for increased investment in public health, at:
http://www.moveon.org/beprepared/
"Our lack of preparation is a real emergency," said former Senator Sam Nunn in testimony to Congress six days before Sept. 11th.
"In the event of a biological weapons attack, millions of lives will depend on how quickly doctors diagnose the illness, communicate their findings, and bring forth a fast and effective response at the local and federal level. This means, clearly, that public health and medical professionals must be part of the national security team," Nunn added.
An increased public health investment could help, in these ways:
- Improved linkages between intelligence agencies and public health
professionals could speed up detection and shorten response time.
- Many public health systems currently go off duty on weekends; also
only 25 states now have Epidemic Intelligence Service Officers.
Expanded investment could enable 24-7 service in every state.
- Our doctors need training to identify the early signs of communicable
diseases that have been extremely rare in recent years.
- More inspectors are needed to protect the safety of our food.
- Hospital bed capacity and vaccine inventories should be expanded.
I hope you'll join us10/26/01 in calling for these sensible improvements today. Just click here:
http://www.moveon.org/beprepared/ NEWS RELEASE October 25, 2001 editor at cursor.org
CURSOR Launches the Internet's Most Complete Al-JAZEERA Resource
http://www.cursor.org/aljazeera.htm
On October 5th, as the U.S. launched airstrikes on Afghanistan, tiny Qatar's Al-Jazeera satellite news channel burst onto the American consciousness, offering the only live feeds of the war's beginning, along with Osama bin Laden's videotaped response to the U.S.
Since then, Al-Jazeera has played a central and controversial role in the conflict, as the only media outlet regularly reporting and transmitting footage from inside Afghanistan.
Now, Cursor covers Al-Jazeera, with regularly updated links to the latest reporting and commentary on this war's most important media outlet, including a link to the station's own Web site, translated into English.
"Cursor's Al-Jazeera Link" includes the following special sections, featuring comprehensive coverage of Al-Jazeera from newspapers, magazines and Web sites in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East:
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