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What is Public Health Preparedness?
A lot of supplies? Well-trained staff? A state of mind? All of these and more. The RAND corporation examines this question by looking at how state and local sites around the nation are integrating preparedness activities into their day-to-day core public health work. The US Senate HELP Committee has just passed a Bill which reauthorizes the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act; identifies the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) as the lead federal official responsible for public health and medical response to emergencies including a flu pandemic; establishes standard of preparedness from state-to-state; and, requires individual states to meet performance standards developed by the Secretary of HHS. And HHS is reorganizing the office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness.
Visit UPCPHP’s essential avian influenza (bird flu) information site. It’s updated regularly with the latest in avian influenza news, avian and human statistics, and links to experts around the world.
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The University of Pittsburgh Center for Public Health Preparedness (UPCPHP) trains public health professionals, including professionals in related organizations, to respond to bioterrorism, infectious disease outbreaks, and other public health threats and emergencies. Housed in the Center for Public Health Practice at the Graduate School of Public Health, UPCPHP is a project of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through cooperative agreement number U90/CCU324238.
