New York Mayor Urges Federal Government To Pay For Sept 11 Health Care

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg called on the US government to inject 1 billion dollars into a Sept 11 victims' compensation fund that closed in 2004. He said the City cannot afford to foot the bill for the claims that will come forward from people with health problems emerging years after the collapse of the World Trade Centre.

Bloomberg says that the City's bill for dealing with the health problems caused by Sept 11 will cost nearly 400 million dollars a year and it can't afford to do this without federal support.

A recent report commissioned by the mayor says that the city has spent over 2 billion dollars in the last five years on diagnosing and treating citizens with health issues arising out of the trade centre collapse.

He said they could not afford to provide the care that people deserved in the longer term.

He also asked for 150 million dollars a year to support people with physical and mental health problems arising directly from Sept 11.

According to the 80 page report by the World Trade Center Health Panel set up by the Mayor, over 400,000 citizens who were exposed to the toxins in the smoke and dust which lingered for weeks while the twin towers burned qualify for health monitoring. Some 71,000 of them have registered with a scheme that will monitor their health for the next 20 years.

Many of the people who fell ill had mental health and lung problems.

Following the recommendations of the Health Panel, the Mayor held a briefing at a City Hall, where he said that the federal government should as a minimum fund these essential needs and that anything less would be "turning their backs on those who responded with courage and suffering".

US Representative and Manhattan Democrat Jerrold Nadler, and New York Democrat and Senator Hillary Clinton have brought in legislation to give New York funds towards the clean up operation and for treating people with illnesses caused by the dust and toxins arising from the burning aftermath of the towers.

The Mayor said that one of the research programmes the City would establish is to track the progress of cancer and other diseases being diagnosed in uniformed and civilian first responders, including 34,000 police officers and several thousand firefighters.

Another programme would double the diagonostic and treatment capacity to 12,000 patients at Bellevue Hospital for immigrants and residents of Chinatown.

Mayor Bloomberg said if victims aren't compensated for the injuries and illnesses they suffer as a result of helping with the clear up, one might question whether people would be so willing to come forward so selflessly should another disaster occur.

He said the the first responders were "responding to an act of war against this nation," and that meant federal government had a clear responsibility to meet here.

Federal funds amounting to 20 billion dollars in the form of aid and tax concessions have been awarded for the rebuilding of the lower Manhattan area. President Bush has also allocated 25 million in his recent budget to pay for health care for emergency workers.

The World Trade Center Health Panel said the current federal plans for supporting the health care of the people affected by Sept 11 were "modest and short term". They are suggesting the focus needs to be on the longer term too.

The September 11th Fund Home Page.

Written by: Catharine Paddock
Writer: Medical News Today