 |
February 9, 2006
Two-thirds of physicians are concerned about the threat of an avian influenza pandemic in the US, and more than half believe an outbreak poses a serious risk for Americans, according to a nationwide survey of primary care clinicians by Pri-Med Research.
Fewer than one in five primary care practitioners believe they are adequately equipped today to treat infected patients. Over 50% express little or no confidence in the government’s ability to manage a flu pandemic at the local, state, federal or international level. 91% of practitioners surveyed also feel that the current availability of anti-viral medications is inadequate to meet an avian flu crisis. A substantial majority would rely on the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and their local public health authorities for guidance in responding to any outbreak.
“Primary care practitioners clearly perceive the threat of an avian flu pandemic as real and potentially overwhelming,” Pri-Med Research director Anne Goodrich said. “The World Health Organization has called it ‘the most serious health threat facing the world today’. The last global flu pandemic in 1918 caused the deaths of an estimated 20 million people worldwide, 675 thousand of those deaths were Americans in a country with only a third its current population."
br>“It’s evident that practicing clinicians feel they need intensive preparation in order to respond to an avian flu outbreak in the US if one does occur,” Alan Lotvin, M.D., president of Pri-Med added. “They are beginning to take this threat seriously: more than 40% of primary care practices in the US have an emergency response plan in preparation or already in place.” Pri-Med, the leading provider of continuing medical education programs, now offers practitioners educational resources on both the avian flu and disaster relief and treatment through Pri-Med Online (www.pri-med.com).
For further information on this study, visit www.pri-med.com/insightresearch
Information provided by Pri-Med. It is Pri-Med’s goal to advance the practice of medicine and outcomes of care for patients. Pri-Med is committed to researching the needs, attitudes and behaviors of the nation’s clinicians as a crucial step toward providing superior quality continuing education that is evidence-based and clinical management strategies that are innovative in design and motivate physicians to adopt appropriate, up-to-date clinical practices.
|
