The federal governments spent $4.1 Billion tax dollars on its response to the H1N1 pandemic. So how well was our money spent and was the program successful. This report INFLUENZA PANDEMIC Lessons from the H1N1 Pandemic Should Be Incorporated into Future Planning published in June 2011 by the US Government Accounting Office spells out what they think worked and what my have not worked so well.
At philly.com this article covers the story stating:
But for the public health community, swine flu provided a critical case study in how well-prepared we are for a widespread outbreak of novel communicable disease. The pandemic also offers important lessons on the persistence of health disparities and some key findings the philly.com point out are:
While the pandemic didn’t unfold as planners had imagined, advance efforts paid off because they established relationships between different sectors of government;
Government credibility was compromised when vaccine availability didn’t live up to what was promised;
Information about H1N1 risk was communicated effectively to most people, but not to those who spoke little or no English;
The Strategic National Stockpile—the government’s stash of medicine and medical supplies for a national emergency—operated as planned, but gaps in distribution and long-term storage plans were identified.
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Bottom line is the U.S. Govenment spent $4.1 billion on this program. These are our tax dollars. You make the call, was this an overreaction and hyped up crisis which the international drug companies made billions of profit?
This is a Swine Flu Updated.
