Posts Tagged ‘public health’

Bobby Jindal published another opinion article, this time in the main section of the Wall Street Journal.

In Washington, it seems history always repeats itself. That’s what’s happening now with health-care reform. This is an unfortunate turn of events for Americans who are legitimately concerned about the skyrocketing cost of a basic human need.

In 1993 and 1994, Hillary Clinton’s health-care reform proposal failed because it was concocted in secret without the guiding hand of public consensus-building, and because it was a philosophical over-reach. Today President Barack Obama is repeating these mistakes.

The reason is plain: The left in Washington has concluded that honesty will not yield its desired policy result. So it resorts to a fundamentally dishonest approach to reform. I say this because the marketing of the Democrats’ plans as presented in the House of Representatives and endorsed heartily by President Obama rests on three falsehoods.

You can read the full article on the WSJ web site →

A few notes to aid your reading and analysis:

• This is an important issue to Jindal. His first major governmental position was as Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals under Governor Mike Foster. Later, he was appointed by President Bush and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate to be the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Planning and Evaluation.
• In this article, Jindal refers to a Lewin Group report. The Lewin Group is a corporation that provides health and human resource consulting. The full report can be found here.
• Jindal discusses the ineffectiveness of bureaucracies in major decision making. Marketing mogul Seth Godin wrote an intriguing article a few years ago concerning this. You can read it here.

The DHH issued a press release this morning declaring seven confirmed cases of influenza A strain H1N1, more commonly known as the swine flu. Five cases were in Lafayette at the Cathedral Carmel School school that was closed early this week. There was also one case in Orleans Parish at the Audubon Charter School and a case in Ascension at Lake Elementary School. Officials said that the latter two schools will remain open because both students have been absent for some time. There are still no confirmed cases in Baton Rouge.

The DHH is continuning to monitor this situation. Governor Bobby Jindal is holding a press conference today at 2:30pm—we’ll update with any new information.

The most shocking news coming from these confirmed cases is that the Ascension case did not have any direct link back to Mexico.

If you’ve been paying attention to the world, by now it’s likely you’ve seen the outbreak and subsequent public hysteria surrounding Influenza A virus subtype H1N1—or, more commonly, swine flu. As readers of our fine hyperlocal blog, you’ve probably also noticed that we’ve been mysteriously quiet about the whole situation. While many traditional news agencies have published dozens of article about swine flu, we’ve only published one. And that article was called “No Confirmed Cases of Swine Flu in Louisiana” and it served only one purpose: to tell you not to panic.

And now, I just wanted to say that until there is a confirmed case of swine flu in Louisiana, you won’t here anything about it from us. Why? Because there’s really no reason to worry or panic until it actually gets here. You can see from the swine flu map that reported cases are still several hundred miles away from our state. Sure, there have been suspected cases of swine flu, but there haven’t been any reported cases yet. The Governor’s press conference yesterday confirmed that he and the DHH are taking preemptive measures to ensure the safety of the public, so the closing of schools has nothing to do with any outbreak. In fact, since the human flu is a derivative of the same strain and we are in flu season, it’s very likely that these suspected cases are just that—suspects.

I really don’t think it’s expedient towards any cause to bring more attention to a matter that’ll likely subside than is necessary. Of course, that isn’t to say that you shouldn’t be prepared—you most definitely should be. Furthermore, we will update when we actually receive news of a confirmed case. That is all.

Just to be totally clear: There have been no confirmed cases of swine flu H1N1 in Louisiana. The closing of the school in Lafayette this week was a precautionary move only by the DHH and Governor Bobby Jindal. Some of the kids did test positive for the flu, but only for the common A strain.

There is no reason as of this moment to be alarmed about the Swine Flu. The DHH and the Governor are taking precautionary measures to ensure public safety. We’ll keep you informed as the case develops.