Global Health is Everyone�s Business

The Saturday afternoon workshop involved three very informative presentations. Dr. Marco Rimanelli, a professor of International Affairs at St. Leo University, began by outlining possible terrorist acts and plans that different levels of government are making to respond to these. He included scenarios involving nuclear, gas, chemical and biological weapons in graphic detail and then explained terrorist methods, estimated casualties and possible countermeasures. The audience response was one of shock, which the speaker used as a basis for advocating those in attendance to monitor local plans being made for response to such disasters and work within the community to promote a common awareness.

Ivis Chan of the Hillsborough County Environmental Department then spoke about water treatment for communities and how various diseases such as dengue fever and cholera may affect this vital resource. She suggested ways of preserving water quality may be a local UNA advocacy issue and described the Adopt-a-Pond program as a model.

LeAndrea Drum, Esq. of the U.S. Middle District Court and an adjunct professor at the University of Tampa discussed the economic impact of (bio)terrorism and how it touches everyone. For instance, the U.S. Postal Service reported a loss of about three billion dollars in 2001 due in part to the anthrax scare. The direct cost of the 9/11 attacks exceeds 100 billion dollars and when stock market losses are included the figure jumps to two trillion dollars. In addition to federal level impacts, the costs of local and state government have increased including an extra 100 million dollars added to the Florida state budget during the second special legislative session in 2001.

The health care industry has also been impacted as hospitals prepare for bio-terrorist threats. The American Hospital Association estimates a cost of more than 11 billion dollars to make 4,900 U.S. hospitals ready for large-scale mass casualties.

Each of these presentations emphasized the need for citizen involvement in community planning and provided a good example of the Convention theme: �Building bridges to the world community.�

Gene E. Beardsley

Return to Newsletter's Contents

Return to Index

Links to other sites on the Web

Sarasota-Manatee Chapter
UNA-USA National
United Nations
UNDP
ILO
UNESCO