President Bush announced details of the government's plan to respond to a potential outbreak of the H5N1 virus this morning in a speech at the National Institutes of Health. Bush said the US government will spend $7.1 billion to protect the country from a possible outbreak of the disease. The plan includes $1 billion for government stockpiles of antiviral drugs, $2.8 billion to improve vaccine development technology and $583 million for state and local governments to develop their own pandemic response plans.
- see this article from The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)
ALSO: Meanwhile, there are signs that companies involved in the production of antiviral drugs have learned their lesson following the controversy which erupted over HIV/AIDS drugs five years ago in Africa. Interview