Is America prepared for a health emergency?

Health emergency

The seventh annual assessment, Ready or Not? Protecting the Public's Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism, looking at 10 indicators of public health emergency preparedness has found that two-fifths of the nation's state are ill-prepared to handle public health emergencies.

The report also finds that the failing economic condition of most states and the H1N1 flu outbreak have exposed "serious underlying gaps" in states' ability to respond to public health emergencies.

The report produced by the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), found that 20 states scored six or less out of 10 key indicators of public health emergency preparedness. And nearly two-thirds of states score seven or less.

Eight states tied for the highest score of nine out of 10: Arkansas, Delaware, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, and Vermont. Montana had the lowest score at three out of 10.

The preparedness indicators were developed in consultation with leading public health experts based on data from publicly available sources or information provided by public officials, according to TFAH officials, CivSource states. Some of the indicators included number of accessible public health labs in the state, the state's connectedness with the CDC, has an established framework for enlisting medical volunteers, and has maintained or increased level of funding for public health services over the last two years, among others.

The report

• Informs the public and policymakers about the status of public health preparedness in the United States.

• Provides greater transparency for public health preparedness programs.

• Encourages greater accountability for the spending of preparedness funds.

• Recommends ways to help the nation move toward a strategic, all-hazards system capable of responding effectively to health threats posed by diseases, disasters, and bioterrorism.

Some key findings from the report include:

• 27 states cut funding for public health from FY 2007-08 to 2008-09.

• 13 states have purchased less than 50 percent of their share of federally subsidized antiviral drugs to stockpile for use during an influenza pandemic.

• 14 states do not have the capacity in place to assure the timely pick-up and delivery of laboratory samples on a 24/7 basis to the Laboratory Response Network (LRN).

• 11 states and D.C report not having enough laboratory staffing capacity to work five 12-hour days for six to eight weeks in response to an infectious disease outbreak, such as H1N1.

H1N1

The H1N1 virus has put the poor financial standing of public health emergency preparedness in the spotlight. More than half of the states cut their public health funding while federal funds have declined by 27 percent since 2005.

"State and local health departments around the country are being asked to do more with less during the H1N1 outbreak as budgets continue to be stretched beyond their limits," said Michelle Larkin, J.D., Public Health Team Director and Senior Program Officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Because of the recession, local health departments around the country have stripped $168 billion from state budgets.

Overall

Overall, the report found that significant progress has been made in the nation's preparedness to respond to public health emergencies based on state-by-state measures and available data.

Despite this, gaps remain in some critical areas, including, healthcare system preparedness, collaboration between public health and private providers, national real-time disease surveillance, and the development of medical countermeasures and domestic production capacity.

Yet the progress which has been made is threatened by cuts in the federal and state budgets.

Related News

The Challenges within the Healthcare Emergency Management Program |Implementing electronic health records |Innovate to Integrate |Fire and Ice - Medical Imaging

Like this article? Get the RSS feed: