Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-30T21:03:38.935Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Medical Benefits of the Biological Defense Research Program

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2016

Charles F. Dasey*
Affiliation:
U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command, Fort Detrick, MD 21701-5012
Get access

Abstract

The U.S. Army conducts the Biological Defense Research Program to provide medical protection for U.S. military personnel against the threat of biological weapons. The unclassified medical research program is consistent with the Biological Weapons Convention, which prohibits the production and stockpiling of biological and toxin weapons, and encourages the international exchange of scientific and medical information on the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. The program is the source of secondary benefits to civilian public health in the form of vaccine and drug development, diagnostic capability, and contributions to the world body of knowledge on infectious diseases. As the executive agent for the program, the Army submits descriptions of the work conducted under the program to Congress as part of its budget request, and provides numerous other responses to Congressional scrutiny of the program. Internal monitoring of the program is conducted from the perspectives of safety, compliance with regulatory agencies, quality assurance, and close administrative and technical oversight of contracts.

Type
Articles and Commentaries
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Politics and the Life Sciences 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Biological Defense Research Program, Department of Defense (1989). Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement. Fort Detrick, M.D.: U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command, April.Google Scholar
Department of the Army, Department of Defense (1989). “Publication of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Biological Defense Research Program.” The Federal Register 54(230): 49789.Google Scholar
Huxsoll, D. L., Patrick, W. C. III, and Parrott, C. D. (1987). “Veterinary Services in Biological Disasters.” Journal of the American Veterinary Association 190(6): 714722.Google Scholar
Linthicum, K, Bailey, C. L., Tucker, C. J., Mitchell, K., Gordon, S. W., Logan, T. M., Peters, C. J., and Digoutte, J.P. (1990). “Impact of an Irrigation Scheme on Rift Valley Fever Disease in Man and Domestic Animals.” Proceedings of the 11th Annual Medical Science Conference, Nairobi, Kenya. In press.Google Scholar
National Security Agency (1969). National Security Decision: Memorandum Number 35. Washington, D.C.: National Security Agency, November 25.Google Scholar