Public health preparedness grants to total $849 million

Robert Roos

Jun 17, 2004 (CIDRAP News) The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today it will award a total of $849 million to states, territories, and four major cities in this year's package of public health preparedness grants.

The grants are intended to improve preparedness for bioterrorist attacks, infectious diseases, and natural disasters, the HHS statement said. The funds are administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The announced total confirms a recent HHS decision to take about $55 million that Congress had earmarked for ongoing state preparedness programs and shift it to three new programs, CDC spokesman Von Roebuck told CIDRAP News.

As previously outlined by HHS, the three programs include the Cities Readiness Initiative, a plan to help 21 large cities quickly distribute medicine and supplies in a public health emergency; BioSense, an automated system for detecting bioterrorist attacks and disease outbreaks by monitoring health data; and a plan to add more quarantine stations at international airports.

The funding shift involved taking about $1.1 million from the $5 million base grant earmarked for each state, according to a letter that HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson wrote to congressional leaders in May. All states receive equal base grants, plus an additional sum based on population.

As announced today, the fiscal year 2004 grants to states range from $4.9 million for Wyoming to $59.3 million for California. Separate grants were announced for Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Washington, DC.

A comparison of this year's grants with those announced in 2003 shows that all but eight states are receiving less money this year than last year. The exceptions are California, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, and Virginia. Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC, are also due for increases. New York City will get the largest increase, almost $5 million.

The HHS statement said the money can be used "for improving communication and coordination between hospitals and local and state health departments, and their laboratories, while bolstering epidemiology and disease surveillance in state and local areas by increasing the number of people trained in emergency response."

States and cities must file applications with updated preparedness plans before they can receive any of the money, according to Roebuck. He said the CDC was sending out guidance on how to apply for the funds today, and applications are due Aug 1.

The HHS announcement said the department has invested more than $3.7 billion in strengthening the nation's public health system since Sep 11, 2001.

CDC Director Julie L. Gerberding said, "We're better prepared to respond to public health emergencies than ever before. We have more work to do, but these funds will go a long way to further ensure states and local governments are prepared to respond to public health emergencies."

Thompson's letter to congress said funds for the three new programs would include about $39 million for the Cities Readiness Initiative (about $12 million of which would go to the US Postal Service), $11.9 million for BioSense, and $4 million for quarantine stations.

HHS previously (in late May) announced $498 million in 2004 grants to the states for hospital preparedness for bioterrorism and other events that could cause mass casualties. Those funds are distributed by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).