News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Public health programs that detect and respond to bioterror events and disease outbreaks are at risk from federal and state budget cuts, a threat that could worsen over the next year if automatic across-the-board cuts kick in, according to an annual preparedness report card released today.

(CIDRAP News) – For many years, public health personnel have cited the estimate of 70% to 90% when talking about the level of protection afforded by seasonal influenza vaccines. But last week's meta-analysis of flu vaccine studies in The Lancet Infectious Diseases—along with several other studies in recent years—has raised the question of whether it's time to change the message about flu vaccines.

Editor’s Note: This article covers research conducted in part by CIDRAP researchers. Please note that CIDRAP News operates independently in relation to CIDRAP's research and policy programs.

See also: Strict meta-analysis raises questions about flu vaccine efficacy

(CIDRAP News) – The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a "Retail Food Safety Action Plan" aiming to improve how food facilities manage their food safety efforts and how public health agencies oversee them.

The plan calls for strengthening state and local food safety requirements for retail facilities and improving training for their workers, the FDA said in an e-mail statement yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) – Public health officials today announced the launch of the first national accreditation program for health departments, a move designed to create a voluntary national standard to measure and improve the performance across a range of health departments, from local to state.

The group of national and local leaders made the announcement at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

(CIDRAP News) – Hard-pressed local health departments (LHDs) shed another 6,000 jobs through layoffs and attrition in 2010, bringing the total job losses over the past 3 years to 29,000, according to a survey report from the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO).

(CIDRAP News) – Two public health advocacy groups this week warned that recent cuts in US preparedness funding could hamstring the nation's response to a health emergency such as a bioterrorism attack, flu pandemic, or natural disaster.

(CIDRAP News) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released a set of standards for public health preparedness capabilities to help state and local public health agencies set priorities and strategies in an age of budget-cutting.