Media Advisory

New CDC Report Highlights Challenges in Preparing for Public Health Emergencies in Era of Declining Funding

Who:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Coordinating Office of Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response will release a report titled, "Public Health Preparedness: Strengthening CDC's Emergency Response."

What:

CDC's Coordinating Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response released its
inaugural report today on CDC's terrorism preparedness and emergency response activities. The report describes CDC’s role in preparing the nation for public health emergencies, its significant preparedness accomplishments, the diversity of challenges that remain, and priorities for ongoing and future work in a climate of decreasing resources.

"Building a strong platform for public health preparedness and response is not an easy endeavor, said Dr. Richard E. Besser, Director of CDC's Coordinating Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response. "Much work remains to be done to improve our internal and external response capabilities, and to reduce our vulnerabilities to all types of public health threats."

The report, Public Health Preparedness: Strengthening CDC's Emergency Response, outlines CDC's future preparedness priorities, including enhancing biosurveillance systems to support rapid detection of and response to emerging public health threats, increasing nationwide laboratory capacity to respond effectively after a radiological incident (such as a dirty bomb), and helping state and local health departments strengthen their emergency response capabilities.

The report builds on the analysis of state and public health preparedness presented in the February 2008 CDC report, Public Health Preparedness: Mobilizing State by State. Both reports are an important part of CDC's overall focus on demonstrating results, driving program improvements, and increasing accountability for the nation's investments in public health preparedness activities.

When:

Friday January 16, 2009

Where:

You can access the report at http://emergency.cdc.gov/publications/jan09phprep.

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES