9/11 Health Czar Named Following Maloney-Fossella Appeal

Photo house.gov/fossella Rep. Fossella (center) and Rep. Maloney (left center) meet with 9/11 volunteers during a recent hearing.

Responding to requests from Congressmembers Carolyn Maloney and Vito Fossella, Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt has appointed Dr. John Howard, director of the federal National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, to serve as the federal government's coordinator to oversee the response to Ground Zero impacts.

The lawmakers called for the appointment of a coordinator in January and have been working with Leavitt since then to have a proven health professional in place to oversee the monitoring and treatment of the people who became sick and injured during and after the 9/11 cleanup.

M a l o n e y (D-Queens/Manhattan) and Fossella (R-Staten Island) said Howard's first move must be to ensure that a fully operational medical screening and monitoring program is in place covering a large pool of responders and residents.

Howard's other duties would include, but are not limited to:

+Overseeing the distribution of federal funding for programs administered through the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to enhance medical screening and monitoring programs.

+Ensuring that appropriated federal funds are dedicated to treatment.

+Bringing together the collective talents of the medical and scientific communities to develop a plan to help all those who have become ill from the 9/11 attack and subsequent cleanup.

Maloney and Fossella had called for the appointment of a 9/11 health czar following the recent deaths of three 9/11 responders. They have charged for several years that thousands of first responders, federal employees and Lower Manhattan residents and workers are suffering from health problems probably caused by exposure to toxins at or near the Ground Zero site. Among the harmful substances filling the air after the attack on the World Trade Center were asbestos, lead, mercury, powdered glass and other potential toxins.

-John Toscano