THE CNMI and the Commonwealth Health Center received $530,000 from two federal agencies for anti-bioterrorism programs.
The funds are part of the over $900 million that will be provided by the U.S. government to prepare the nation against any terrorist threat in light of the Sept. 11 attacks on America.
This is the first time that the federal government has given money to address bioterrorism.
The public health preparedness bioterrorism grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention amounts to $500,000.
Health Secretary James U. Hofschneider yesterday said the U.S. Human Resources Services Administration provided CHC $30,000 for the first phase of the hospital preparedness bioterrorism program.
This amount is an addition to the $2.8 million in U.S. grants that the Department of Public Health is scheduled to receive this year, Hofschneider said.
The money will be used to purchase medicine, communications and surveillance equipment and prepare the CNMI and CHC not only for possible bioterrorism attacks, but for other types of disasters as well, like typhoons, cholera epidemic and earthquake.
In line with these new federal grants, representatives of the Pacific Emergency Health Initiative, together with Dr. Richard Brostrom, medical director of public health, visited Rota and Tinian for “needs assessment.”
