War, bioterrorism, and the political landscape

Last week, Tommy Thompson, Secretary of Health and Human Services-the cabinet-level parent department of NIH-announced seven new programmes "to accelerate bioterrorism research and help strengthen the nation's ability to deal with the public health threat posed by bioterrorism". Coordinated through NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the new programmes will fund research on diseases deemed by the CDC to have a high priority: anthrax, botulism, plague, smallpox, tularaemia, and viral haemorrhagic fevers. In inviting proposals for "The Rapid Response Grant Program on BioTerrorism-Related Research", NIH said it would accelerate the review process, and "will evaluate and fund new applications in 5 to 6 months after receipt, rather than the usual 9 or 10 months". In White House financial planning, antiterrorism research at NIH is a fast-growing item, rising from $47 million last year to $93 million in the latest budget.