Survey: bio defenses need improvement.

• Author: Pappalardo, Joe
• Position: Homeland Defense Briefs

A recent survey of public and private leadership views of the state of America's defenses against biological attack showed deep-seated doubts, inadequacies and shortfalls. The center for biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center polled 30 academic, industry and government leaders for answers on a number of questions, including the development of vaccines against biological attack.

While most interviewees agreed that there have been improvements since 2001, they also asserted that there are gaps in the detection and defense against manmade and natural epidemics. The general consensus was that the entire vaccine industry needed to be revolutionized in order to adequately respond to the threat, and that health professionals have few tools to help clinical testing for dangerous pathogens.

The report is a confirmation of oft-heard comments, but what is truly enlightening is the unattributed quotes sprinkled throughout the pages--observations from industry and government experts that illustrate the state of anti-bioterrorism initiatives.

"Rapid development of new drugs is a key technology we don't have," said one. "It's up to the government to sponsor interactions between the different industries and assemble the units like a jigsaw puzzle into a complete entity that can deal with everything," said another.

The study participants gave a lukewarm review of "Bioshield," a procurement program designed to promote the development of therapeutic drugs against likely bioterror agents. The lack of a bioterror market is often cited to explain the small...