Health officials call for national disease database

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Thursday, Nov. 1, 2001 | 9:41 a.m.

Public health programs in the United States grew in the late 1800s out of a desperate need to control infectious diseases. The goal was to track -- and contain -- outbreaks of cholera, smallpox, influenza and other contagious illnesses.

Since then, the mission of public health has expanded to include medical care for the indigent, educational programs and inspection and licensing of public facilities. But the data collected by most public health agencies has never been expanded beyond infectious diseases, said Shelley Hearne, executive director for the Trust for America's Health.

"We need to reorient our public health focus," Hearne said Wednesday. "A national database would provide the background needed for an effective health defense system in this country.'

The Baltimore-based health advocacy group, funded primarily by the Pew Charitable Trusts, is pushing for a health database to be administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The House of Representatives has approved $20 million to help launch the database, which would cost an estimated $275 million annually.

Nevada is one of 12 states that fails to track asthma among its residents, according to Hearne's health advocacy group. As of 1998, Nevada ranked worst in the country for asthma, with cases occurring in 7.2 percent of the population. The Environmental Protection Agency ranked Nevada sixth worst nationwide for the highest PM 10 levels -- particulate matter 10 microns in diameter or smaller.

Fears of bioterrorism may have captured the public's attention, but the national health database would pay dividends far beyond the current anthrax scares, Hearne said.

"Will Nevada ever have an anthrax-related death? Probably not," Hearne said. "But you do have people dying of asthma."

Dr. Mary Guinan, the state's chief health officer, said a federally-managed database would ensure consistency in how information was collected by each state.

"We can't compare without a common system," Guinan said.

Ideally, a national database would simultaneously track health and environmental statistics, Guinan said.

What causes asthma has not been determined, but there is evidence that attacks can be triggered by high levels of pollution and particulate matter in the air, Guinan said. Tracking environmental toxins could also help pinpoint the cause of cancer clusters, Guinan said.