Flu Exposes Weaknesses in U.S. Biopreparedness, Report Finds

Global Security Newswire
December 16, 2009

The spread of the H1N1 flu virus through the United States this year revealed that the nation’s medical care system remains ill-prepared to handle the intensive demands that could develop from acts of bioterrorism or other major health crises, warns an annual report published yesterday (see GSN, June 8).

[efoods]“The H1N1 outbreak … vividly demonstrated the existing gaps in public health preparedness. Decades of chronic underfunding of public health meant that many of the core systems that would have been invaluable to have in place during an emergency were not at-the ready when H1N1 emerged,” the document asserts.

From fiscal years 2008 and 2009, 27 states “disproportionately” cut their public health budgets in response to the economic crisis, says the report, “Ready or Not? Protecting the Public’s Health from Disease, Disasters and Bioterrorism.”

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