(more reports from the YearlyKos convention...)
I had an unusual opprtunity this weekend to attend a partisan political convention and present a non-partisan topic... pandemic preparedness.
There were 1500 attendees in Chicago this weekend, including most of the Dem presidential candidates and their staffs. Staff members from congressionaloffices were here, but the Congress critters themselves were held up in voting back in DC.
I moderated a one hour panel on Saturday, which included myself, Laura Segal from Trust For America's Health and David Ozonoff, a Professor of Environmental Health from Boston University School of Public Health (I've worked with all of the panelists in other venues, and am greatful they took time out of their very busy schedules to come to Chicago and present with me). I presented a 10 minute overview (including H5N1 and current numbers in Se Asia), Laura talked about where the fed panflu money is going, and Dave gave a wonderful personal overview of what's happened to public health over the last 40 years.
The session was (perhaps suprisingly) very well-attended and (I am told) well received. We had 60+ people, most of whom stayed on for questions past the alloted time. Many of them then spread the information through networking, and I got several 'thank you's, both for sticking to the facts and for presenting at all. there are dozens of other panels, and there were some surprisingly straight science sessions which I also participated in. This is a crowd that knows me, and I got to say my piece (where relevent).
We will continue to work to present information as insiders, as outsiders, and to any government and non-government groups who want information about where things stand. I have worked with HHS and the current administration, and I have now presented to the loyal opposition. I have presented to local and state officials, business groups, doctors, and Boards of Education.
My feedback talking to these politically well-connected people is that Flu Wiki is well known on the Hill (and HHS and CDC), at least by staffers. As is often the case with complex issues, the staffers are better (information) prepped than the congress people, unless someone has experience or has made this a signature issue based on committee work or interest. Moving the ball forward is difficult because of competing interests and demands on time, but we certainly have made significant progress over the last two years, and we have no intention of letting up.
My apologies for not posting more; these have been 8am-9 pm days, and I'm currently at an iffy airport terminal. I look forward to getting home and being able to better respond. In the meantime, thank you to the organizers and volunteers, the attendees and this community for making it and the other excellent panels and workshops happen.
Adapted from a post at Flu Wiki Forum
The presentations can be found here (mine, .ppt), here (Laura's, .pdf) and here (Dave's, .ppt).