News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released a new planning tool to help hospitals and health systems prepare for medical surges that could result from a bioterror attack, natural disaster, or other public health emergency.

(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) – Although antiviral drugs were used to treat many seriously sick people during the H1N1 influenza pandemic, experts at a conference today said they could have been used more widely and that some opportunities to learn from their use were missed.

(CIDRAP News) – As pandemic flu activity across the nation wanes, federal health officials are already reviewing the government's response and lessons learned to help blunt the impact of the next national public health emergency, Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) – Though the nation is going into its second wave of the H1N1 pandemic armed with crucial improvements such as better vaccine capacity, remaining challenges in medical surge and vaccine distribution could hamper response now and into a third wave, preparedness experts said today.

Editor's Note: CIDRAP's Promising Practices: Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Tools (www.CIDRAPpractices.org) online database showcases peer-reviewed practices, including useful tools to help others with their planning. This article is one of a series exploring the development of these practices. We hope that describing the process and context of these practices enhances pandemic planning.

(CIDRAP News) – With money for pandemic influenza preparedness stripped from a huge economic stimulus bill that appears headed for final congressional approval, public health advocates say they have to look to the regular budgeting process for the next chance to get some pandemic funding.

(CIDRAP News) – Yesterday the US House of Representatives passed an $819 billion economic stimulus bill that included funding for pandemic influenza and bioterrorism countermeasures, and now the Senate will debate its version of the measure, which also includes spending on some of the same items.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced that it is allocating states and major metropolitan areas $1.1 billion to strengthen public health preparedness and help healthcare facilities respond to emergency events such as an influenza pandemic or terrorist attack.

(CIDRAP News) – Acting on the premise that "disasters discriminate," the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and several partner groups yesterday released a lengthy set of proposed guidelines for protecting the most vulnerable people during an influenza pandemic.