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Biosecurity Briefing
HHS Provides $1.2 Billion to States for Bioterrorism Preparedness By Clarence Lam, June 9, 2006 On June 7, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it "has made available another $1.2 billion to the states, territories and four metropolitan areas to help strengthen their capacity to respond to terrorism and other public health emergencies."[1] According to HHS, the funds are intended "to improve infectious disease surveillance and investigation, enhance the preparedness of hospitals and the health care system to deal with large numbers of casualties, expand public health laboratory and communications capacities and improve connectivity between hospitals, and city, local and state health departments to enhance disease reporting . . . [and] . . . also . . . to exercise existing response plans, test capabilities and evaluate improvements."[1] The funding is being provided by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) through interrelated cooperative agreements with states:
The HRSA funding represents a shift from the previous four years in which HRSA's Bioterrorism Hospital Preparedness Program focused on building surge capacity for hospitals and other healthcare institutions to prepare for mass casualty emergencies. References
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