Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt said in a release that these funds will enable the department "to further enhance federal, state and local preparedness efforts and to further strengthen the international public health infrastructure, which is a critical component of our global surveillance efforts."
Along with funds for vaccines "the president's budget calls for an increase of nearly $60 million in the Health Information Technology Initiative," Leavitt said in an earlier statement. "Among other things, these funds support the development of electronic health records."
