Rat Lung research funding not going to UHH

[Eric1600]

Basically the funding is going to department of health instead of UHH.

Budget chairwomen for the House and Senate allocated $1 million earlier this week to the state Department of Health to combat rat lungworm disease, but in doing so they diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars in hoped-for funding away from researchers at the University of Hawaii at Hilo who have been leading research into the disease and spearheading public education efforts.

"These are all important studies which would have been done with these funds,” said Jarvi [UHH lead Rat Lung researcher] by email. “We would like to know how the DOH will be spending our tax dollars and if they will be assisting the people of Hawaii island as well as Maui. Education is important but just telling people to wash their vegetables [DOH says they'll spend it on preventative education] is not going to solve this problem. We will continue to see an increase in cases and people’s lives ruined unless we better understand this disease, and that can only happen through research."


http://www.staradvertiser.com/2017/04/28...2b1338e3bc

It's recommended to contact the following reps. to make sure Puna's voice is heard and Department of Health (DOH) provides UHH funding now.

HOUSE FIN Chair
Sylvia Luke
House District 25
Hawaii State Capitol, Room 306
phone: 808-586-6200
repluke@capitol.hawaii.gov

Senate Ways and Means
Jill N. Tokuda
Senate District 24
Hawaii State Capitol, Room 207
phone: 808-587-7215
fax: 808-587-7220
sentokuda@capitol.hawaii.gov

In essence we want the money to go to fund UHH rat lung research.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

“We would like to know how the DOH will be spending our tax dollars and if they will be assisting the people of Hawaii island

Yes, I think we'd all like to know the answer to that question. During the dengue outbreak the head of DOH Disease Outbreak Control Division, Sarah Park told Big Island residents:

“We’re really trying to get the word out to the public,” said Hawaii State Epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Park.
“Specifically about the prevention messages … to say, ‘It’s on you.’ It’s not just about waiting for the Department of Health to come spray. Because that’s not going to happen, frankly.

So if the head of the DOH Disease Outbreak Control division wants to turn dengue, rat lungworm, etc into a self help program, what does she plan to do with that $1 million?

I better not get a tri-folded 8 1/2" x 11" mini poster in the mail that says:
____________
Remember!
Wash Your
Vegetables!
____________

On the fifth day - the scientists who studied the rivers - were forbidden to speak - or to study the rivers. -Jane Hirshfield's poem on creation

[kalakoa]

Again: State claws back funding, we beg for grant money to fight our problems.

It must be acceptable, because it keeps happening.

Oahu is not a good "neighbor".

[Eric1600]

Well, in the case of dengue, the spread and methods of prevention are really well known and tested. Having the public take precautions to avoid bites and stop breeding grounds has been proven to work in many countries and cities. However with RLW we don't know much about it at all or even have a good detection method for the parasite as people can be asymptomatic, unlike dengue.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

dengue... methods of prevention are really well known and tested.
...
RLW we don't know much about it at all or even have a good detection method

So $1 million might be better spent first on research into the spread and prevention of RLW by the university. Then DOH would have the information and tools necessary to control an outbreak.

On the fifth day - the scientists who studied the rivers - were forbidden to speak - or to study the rivers. -Jane Hirshfield's poem on creation

[Chunkster]

HOTPE asked, "So if the head of the DOH Disease Outbreak Control division wants to turn dengue, rat lungworm, etc into a self help program, what does she plan to do with that $1 million?"

Answer: Hire some more bureaucrats to tell us that we are on our own.

[kalakoa]

Hire some more bureaucrats to tell us that we are on our own.

Don't forget the PR firm, and the printing/mailing of glossy "Wash Your Food" posters...

[randomq]

But how do we prevent rat bureaucrat worm? They are embedded in our government, eating it from the inside out, and causing all sorts of dysfunction.

Cook your lettuce, folks.

[Kenney]

Mahalo for this info Eric. It's really upsetting (to me) that DOH gets more $ for slogans and posters while the people actually doing the research for years get the cold shoulder. Sadly it's typical.
Just emailed letters to both House and Senate. ( signed with the medical professional letters behind my name in hopes they'd take me more seriously)

When is this state going to wake up?
Answer, when more tourists and/or residents of Maui and Oahu get RLW.

[kalakoa]

When is this state going to wake up?

It's past time for Hawaii Island to secede from the State of Hawaii.

Consider: 70% of our budget is from property tax. Wouldn't take much to be self-funded.