9/11: Five Years On And US Health Still At Risk

According to a report released this week, half of US states would be unable to provide adequate emergency health care following a bioterrorist attack, natural disaster or disease pandemic, posing an unacceptable risk to people's health.

The report is by the Trust for America's Health (TFAH), which has been monitoring the situation for the past four years. It would seem that in spite of the 9/11 and anthrax tragedies of 2001, and last year's devastation by Katrina, while many lessons may been learned, not enough have been put into practice.

The TFAH report is titled Ready or Not? Protecting the Public's Health from Disease, Disasters, and Bioterrorism, 2006.

The TFAH evaluated the readiness of each of the 50 US states and the District of Columbia on a 10-point scale of key indicators and found half of them scored 6 or less. Only one state, Oklahoma, scored 10 out of 10, followed by one other state, Kansas, at 9 out of 10. Bottom of the league at 4 out of 10 were California, Iowa, Maryland and New Jersey.

The key indicators were compiled from 2006 data from publicly available health statistics or from health officials. They assess health-specific emergency preparedness, including the ability to cope with surges and immunization, which is covered by four of the ten indicators.

Jeff Levi, PhD, Executive Director of TFAH says that "The nation is nowhere near as prepared as we should be for bioterrorism, bird flu, and other health disasters." He adds that the situation is improving gradually each year, but "as a whole, Americans face unnecessary and unacceptable levels of risk."

To improve overall national readiness, the report recommends that:

- States be regularly assessed on their ability to cope with crises and the results should be published for all to see.
- Federal money be given to states to improve their readiness.
- People with insufficient health insurance receive temporary benefits in emergency situations such as terrorist attacks and flu pandemics so they seek treatment quickly and reduce spread of infection and contamination.
- One person be in charge of all US public health programmes and provide clear national leadership in times of crisis.
- Partnerships and links be established across all sectors, public and private, health and business, national and local, so they plan and pull together rapidly in emergencies.
- Stockpiles of emergency equipment and drugs be increased.
- Healthworker recruitment and retention be strengthened, with a focus on the next generation and volunteers.
- Technology and equipment be modernized and research and development be increased.
- The public be more involved in emergency planning and the communication of risk.

Click here to see the full report.

Written by: Catharine Paddock
Writer: Medical News Today

(from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com)