Reporting on Public Health Preparedness

CDC is committed to publicly reporting on the progress that state and local health departments are making in public health preparedness and response. The agency’s investments in preparedness and response have resulted in significant accomplishments at the federal, state, and local levels, but many challenges still remain. CDC’s preparedness reports demonstrate results, drive program improvements, and increase accountability for federal investments. For more details on CDC preparedness and response efforts and to view state- and locality-specific data, see the reports described below.

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  The National Strategic Plan for Public Health Preparedness and Response (2011) is a guide for CDC, the entire public health system, and its stakeholders to secure the health of the nation and attain the plan’s collective 2020 vision of “people’s health protected – public health secured”. The development of the document was a collaborative effort between preparedness leaders internal and external to CDC and led by Dr. Ali S. Khan and the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response.

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  Public Health Preparedness: 2011 State-by-State Update on Laboratory Capabilities and Response Readiness Planning (2011)presents national-level data as well as fact sheets with data on preparedness activities occurring in each of the 50 states and 4 localities supported by CDC’s Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) cooperative agreement. The report provides available data on two of the activities reported in the 2010 report, laboratory capabilities and response readiness planning for medical countermeasure distribution.

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  Public Health Preparedness: Strengthening the Nation's Emergency Response State by State (2010) features national data as well as individual fact sheets for the 50 states and 4 localities supported by CDC's Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) cooperative agreement. The report also highlights snapshots of state and local response activities occurring during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.

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  Public Health Preparedness: Strengthening CDC's Emergency Response (2009) explains CDC's role in preparing the public health infrastructure to respond effectively to all types of hazards. The report also describes the broad range of preparedness programs funded at CDC and at state and local health departments which are supported by the Congressional Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response allocation.

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  Public Health Preparedness: Mobilizing State By State (2008) highlights preparedness progress and challenges at state and local public health departments and outlines CDC's efforts to address those challenges. The report presents national data as well as state-specific snapshots for the 50 states and 4 localities supported by CDC's Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) cooperative agreement.

Non-CDC Publications

• Public health preparedness and response in the USA since 9/11: a national health security imperative.
  Dr. Ali S. Khan (Director of CDC’s Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response) details progress and challenges in public health preparedness and response since the 2001 attacks. The article was included in a special 9/11 10-year anniversary issue of Lancet in September 2011. [Khan AS. Public health preparedness and response in the USA since 9/11: a national health security imperative. Lancet 2011; 378: 953–56]
• Remembering 9/11 and Anthrax:  Public Health’s Vital Role in National Defense (2011). This report by Trust for America's Health (a nonprofit, non-partisan organization) includes more than 30 accounts by public health officials who were on the ground in response to 9/11 and anthrax, including many colleagues at CDC.
• Ready or Not? Protecting the Public's Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism (2010). This annual report by Trust for America's Health (a nonprofit, non-partisan organization) ranks states' abilities to respond to a public health emergency according to 10 preparedness indicators, four of which are based on data from PHPR's 2010 state by state report.
• Medical Countermeasure Dispensing: Emergency Use Authorization and the Postal Model (2010). A summary of a November 2009 IOM workshop on current threats, progress made in the public health system regarding the distribution and dispensing of countermeasures, and remaining vulnerabilities.
• The Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise (PHEMCE) (2010). Summary of an April 2010 IOM workshop that addressed challenges facing PHEMCE.
• Research Priorities in Emergency Preparedness and Response for Public Health Systems: A Letter Report (2008)