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CB 1 Questions WTC Health Follow Up By Barry Owens The World Trade Center Health Registry, which has conducted interviews of tens of thousands of Lower Manhattan residents, workers and rescue personnel to monitor the lasting health effects of the Sept. 11 attacks, is set to begin follow-up surveys this month, the first of many follow-ups over the next 20 years. Members of Community Board 1’s World Trade Center Committee, who were recently presented with an update on some of the survey’s findings, wonder to what end. “It’s not serving any active function,” said committee member Marc Donnenfeld, who joined others on the committee in questioning the surveys’ usefulness to the survivors of the attack and the neighborhood residents potentially effected by the fallout. Committee chairwoman, Catherine McVay Hughes, said the community board’s primary concern is that “money is allocated for screening and treatment, and this survey does not do that.” The registry, which began enrolling members in 2003, has a database of 71,347 members, about 20 percent of the more than 300,000 that were below Canal Street on Sept. 11, 2001. Initial findings from the survey reveal that about 67 percent of the adult enrollees reported new or worsened respiratory health problems between the attacks and the time of their interview. Their reported symptoms included sinus problems, shortness of breath, throat irritation and persistent cough. Dr. Mark Farfel, director of the registry, said that survivors of the collapsed buildings reported “substantial” physical and mental health problems even three years after 9/11. “What we don’t know is if these symptoms have persisted over the last two years since the interview,” Farfel said, highlighting the need for the registry to continue to interview participants in coming years. Follow up questions to participants will be aimed to gauge the condition of residents’ homes and their cleaning after the attacks; mask use and their type and fit for rescue and recovery workers; and to glean information about evacuation timing from building survivors. Participants can expect questionnaires to be e-mailed, or mailed, to them this month. The registry’s purpose is to provide material and reports for medical experts and researchers to examine, but interviewers do not provide medical screening, assistance or referrals. “We’re not an examination program,” said Farfel. “The registry is a tool for policy implementation and change.” Committee members suggested the registry, which is no longer accepting new enrollees, would be more effective, and would possibly have more participants, if it were to provide medical exams. Farfel defended the registry, calling it the largest of its kind in the country and said the diversity of its participants, ranging from rescue workers on the pile, to mothers who had been pregnant on Sept. 11, makes it a representative sample of those potentially effected. He pointed to the value of knowing the percentage of people in the neighborhood who might be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, as an example. The first survey showed that participants in Lower Manhattan showed a higher percentage of adults reporting symptoms of such distress than adults in the rest of the city, and a second survey may reveal the number to be even higher. “Wouldn’t you like to know how often that happens,” said Farfel. “I would rather prefer to have them treated,” said Donnenfeld.
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