The former director of the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) told Homeland Preparedness News on Friday that Congress should go above and beyond requested supplemental funding to ensure the United States is more prepared to fight the coronavirus outbreak and other future threats.
“There is absolutely more work to be done,” said Greg Burel, now president and principal consultant at Hamilton Grace LLC, a consulting firm focused on preparedness and response.
Burel retired on Jan. 3 after almost 38 years of federal service, most recently as the SNS director at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where he was responsible for more than $600 million in annual receipts from appropriations, as well as all activities for over 300 multi-disciplinary personnel, including logisticians, public health professionals, physicians, pharmacists, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory specialists, among others.
“The Congress must provide additional funds, apart from the supplemental, to allow SNS to fill gaps in its formulary,” Burel wrote in an email. “More importantly, the Congress must act to ensure sustained funding going forward.”
President Donald Trump on Friday signed into law an $8.3 billion emergency supplemental appropriations bill to address the coronavirus. The U.S. House of Representatives voted 415-2 on March 4 to approve the bill, with the U.S. Senate passing it March 5 on a 96-1 vote.
“This legislation is a critical first step to enable a strategic, coordinated and whole-of-government response to the coronavirus and to keep Americans safe,” said U.S. House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-NY), who sponsored the bill.
The new funding provided in the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act for 2020, H.R. 6074, includes support for state and local health agencies, vaccine and treatment development, and loans for affected small businesses to lessen the economic blow of this public health emergency.
Specifically, within HHS the bill provides fiscal year 2020 supplemental appropriations for the FDA, the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund, among others.
The supplemental appropriations are designated as emergency spending, which is exempt from discretionary spending limits, and will allow HHS to temporarily waive certain Medicare restrictions and requirements regarding telehealth services during the coronavirus public health emergency.
But according to Burel: “A portion of this supplemental must be added to SNS regular appropriations to assure that capacity gained from the investment can be maintained for the future.”
And the future is now.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of today there are 99,624 confirmed cases and 3,400 deaths worldwide due to COVID-19, which now has been reported in a total of 90 countries, areas or territories.
Most cases — more than 80,000 — are confirmed in China. Comparatively, the United States now has 148 confirmed cases while the second-highest number of cases has been reported in Korea, which has 6,284, according to the WHO.
To help the nation prepare and respond to the coronavirus, Burel said that “the SNS is an absolutely critical part of U.S. preparedness for any public health emergency.”
SNS acquires and stores life-saving medical supplies to be deployed at the state and local level to protect Americans, he explained, and has spent years working with state and local authorities to plan and exercise for such a public health response.
In detailing how the country is more prepared now compared to a year ago to respond to public health emergencies such as COVID-19, Burel pointed out that following a reorganization last year, the SNS is now part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at HHS, and “is more fully integrated with other health responses that have always been led by ASPR.”
“This increased coordination with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to co-develop plans and contracts directly to support new drug development and delivery means we are ultimately better prepared to respond,” he wrote in his email.
For example, the SNS can better assure a continuous life for BARDA-developed products, and has benefited from ASPR innovation programs to add new capabilities and lead in the development of new technologies and devices to improve health response, Burel said.
“SNS also is now responsible for the stock of the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS), which will streamline logistics operations,” wrote Burel.
Finally, he added, “recognizing the chronic lack of funding for SNS, ASPR worked through the appropriations process to end with an additional $95 million in funding for SNS this fiscal year — which is critical under the current crisis.”
But more funding beyond that, as well as the supplemental appropriations, is needed, he said.
“SNS is a vital component of our health preparedness and response as a nation and must continue to receive funds required to do its critical job for the nation,” Burel wrote. “It must continue to further integrate with ASPR’s overall response capability today to ensure Americans are even more prepared for whatever public health emergency tomorrow may bring.”