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Biosecurity Briefing
HHS Issues New Guidance for State Pandemic Influenza Operating Plans By Brooke Courtney, March 21, 2008 On March 11, 2008, the Federal government released the Federal Guidance to Assist States in Improving State-Level Pandemic Influenza Operating Plans.1 During the past year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and six other cabinet-level departments assessed state pandemic planning as part of the May 2006 implementation of the White House Homeland Security Council’s National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza.1 According to the new guidance, the “first round of assessments revealed important progress in many areas but also underscored the need for better guidance from the USG [U.S. Government] Departments and increased efforts by State-level agencies to fill the many remaining gaps in preparedness.”1 In addition to the findings from the first round of assessments, the guidance was informed by the results of regional workshops co-hosted by HHS and DHS and exercises led by the National Governors Association (NGA).2 The new guidance, which focuses on operating plans, provides details on the submission of planning information for the second round of assessments and a strategic framework to help states “improve and maintain their operating plans for responding to and sustaining functionality during an influenza pandemic.”1 According to the guidance, an “operating plan for combating pandemic influenza should address at least the [following] three strategic goals:”
The strategic goals “provide an overarching framework for the various functions of State government during an influenza pandemic” that “acknowledges the fact that the State government is simultaneously striving to continue its basic operations, respond to the influenza pandemic, and facilitate the maintenance of critical infrastructure.”1 Strategic Goal A focuses on “the role of State government…as an employer (i.e., looking inward).”1 The guidance provides that state governments, as large employers, need to consider how they will continue to provide critical services, such as Medicaid and unemployment insurance, that many of the state’s citizens count on for survival.1 Strategic Goal B “reflects the role of the State government as a responder…to the influenza pandemic,” with the state either conducting business as usual, with conducting business with more intensity for certain functions, such as disease surveillance, or altering the way that the state conducts business to mitigate the severity of the pandemic.1 Finally, Strategic Goal C “focuses on the State government’s role with respect to sustaining its publicly- and privately-owned critical infrastructure.”1 The new guidance for states also contains “operating objectives” that are associated with each strategic goal and “that merit inclusion in State pandemic influenza plans.”1 For each operating objective, the guidance provides a “corresponding Appendix containing (1) helpful hints for planning or preparedness activities (which contribute to comprehensive and exercisable operating plan development); and, (2) associated tables of supporting activities that should be specified in State operating plans.”1 On March 13, 2008, HHS sponsored a live webcast for state planners by providing an overview of the guidance and live question-and-answer sessions with experts from HHS, DHS, and the U.S. Department of Labor.3 Additional webcasts will be held on April 2 and April 30, 2008.4 References
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