CDC Says States Are Better Prepared for Health Disasters

Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have given the nation’s states and cities an “A” in preparedness when it comes to their efforts to get ready for emergency health crises. But are we still facing some big challenges?

Associated Press medical writer Mike Stobbe says Dr. Richard Besser of the CDC noted that “I think in terms of effort and progress, [our states and cities get] an ‘A.’ In terms of amount of work to be done, I would say that’s absolutely enormous.”

“It was the government’s first assessment of the payoff from its investment of more than $5 billion since the terrorist attacks of 2001 to make the country better prepared for a variety of public health emergencies,” Stobbe says. The report examined the staffing, laboratory capability and ability of local health departments to handle a health disaster.

The report found that the number of state and local health departments able to detect biological agents grew to 110 in 2007, up from 83 in 2002. Labs able to detect chemical agents increased to 47, from zero in 2001. Similarly, the report found that information sharing between labs and public health professionals has grown.

However, Stobbe says the report also found that many states still do not have enough epidemiologists, and 31 states said they’re having trouble attracting qualified lab scientists. Laws need to be updated, and disease surveillance data exchange appears to be inadequate in at least 16 states.

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