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TFAH Releases Annual Ready or Not? Report

By Christine SooHoo, December 15, 2008

On December 9, 2008, Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) released its 6^th annual report Ready or Not? 2008: Protecting the Public’s Health from Disease, Disasters, and Bioterrorism. Each year the report is released to:

“Inform the public and policymakers about progress and vulnerabilities in the nation’s public health preparedness; and
Foster greater accountability for the spending of taxpayer dollars on emergency preparedness.”¹

The report contains assessments of preparedness for disease outbreaks, natural disasters, and bioterrorism, at the state and federal levels. Individual state preparedness is evaluated based on achievement of 10 key indicators that measure health emergency preparedness capabilities. This year, only 5 states, Louisiana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin received a perfect score. Overall, the report indicates that preparedness has increased during the last 6 years. However, budget cuts may put these improvements at risk.

TFAH found that the federal government is not optimally organized and funding continues to fall short for preparedness activities.¹ As a result, major gaps still exist, including hospital emergency surge capacity, which TFAH identifies as the single most challenging issue for public health and medical preparedness.

TFAH concludes with specific recommendations for the next administration and the 111^th Congress:

Restore preparedness funding to states back to FY2005 levels;
Strengthen preparedness leadership and accountability by clarifying roles at HHS and DHS;
Strengthen surge capacity by addressing altered standards of care, alternative care sites, legal concerns in an emergency, and other workforce issues;
Modernize technology and equipment including, communications, surveillance, and laboratory equipment;
Engage communities in emergency preparedness planning; and
Incorporate preparedness into healthcare reform.¹

References

Trust for America’s Health. Ready or Not? 2008: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism. December 9, 2008 http://healthyamericans.org/reports/bioterror08. Accessed December 10, 2008.