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[Back to index of November articles] VIEWPOINT: By Phillip C. Cato Americans seem not to be much aware that we are facing a catastrophe of apocalyptic proportions and are woefully unprepared to deal with it. The Oct. 8 New York Times carries a chilling account of our nation's present unpreparedness to deal with an expected pandemic of avian flu. Gardner Harris provides a very detailed preview of the Bush administration's 381-page Pandemic Influenza Strategic Plan to deal with what he characterizes as "what could become the worst disaster in the nation's history." The numbers cited by the government's plan, prepared "for internal Health and Human Services use only," are that more than 1.9 million Americans would die and an additional 8.5 million would require hospitalization costing in excess of $450 billion. The quarantines that are planned would, at best, only serve as a delaying tactic. Our recent national experience with the hurricane disasters in the Gulf States gives us no reason to be confident that our government has the capacity to deal with such a pandemic with any degree of efficiency or efficacy. The recent photo opportunity of the President with the chief executive officers of the major pharmaceutical companies does little to still what should be real fears about the consequences of this expected outbreak. Simply hoping that this virus will not evolve into one that has a human-to- human transmission capability is a dangerous expression of naiveté with potentially deadly results. Expecting our government to come to our rescue is equally naïve. Few of us are so familiar with our national history that we would still be carrying the lessons of the 1918-1919 epidemic that killed between 20 and 40 million people. It cost more lives than the four-year Black Death Bubonic Plague of the 14th century, and it began in Kansas, and only very recently has been confirmed as an avian flu. This is no time for the churches to sit idly by and wait to be overtaken by events. Our recent experience with the hurricanes found not only the national and local governments unprepared; the churches were equally unprepared. We function by gathering our congregations. How will we function when that is too dangerous to do? We share a common cup in communion, allow intinction, during which fingers frequently are in contact with the consecrated wine, shake hands at the Peace and at the door, gather in coffee hours, classes, and other groups, and expect our clergy and some laity to come and minister to us when we are ill or in the hospital. Military chaplains and other committed clergy and laity are disposed to join the first responders when there is a disaster. Many of these persons are untrained for this role and will inevitably be among those most at risk. Only recently we observed a saints day for the martyrs of the Memphis yellow fever outbreak in the 19th century. It is not reasonable to assume that there will not be more martyrs as church people attempt to minister to those in need. Too many of us are bad news averse. Far too many of us think that if we simply ignore a problem, it will somehow be taken care of, or will simply go away. We all have the hope that we will be among those who dodge the bullet this time. If this pandemic breaks out, and accomplished healthcare professionals in the CDC, at the NIH, and elsewhere are reasonably confident that it will, we will simply have to deal with it. It is time for the church to wake up, and stop, like most of the public, expecting that someone else will get ready for this potentially huge event in the not too distant future. The government has been worrying about this for years; it is time for us to figure out how we will prepare to respond. The Rev. Phillip C. Cato is priest-in-charge at St. John’s, Olney. [Back to index of November articles]
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