Bioterrorism: Summary of a CRS/National Health Policy Forum Seminar on Federal, State, and Local Public Health Preparedness

Publication Date: December 2001

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

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Research Area: Government; Health

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Abstract:

The September 11th attack and subsequent intentional release of anthrax spores via the U.S. postal system have focused policymakers' attention on the preparedness and response capability of the nation's public health system. The anthrax attacks put a tremendous strain on the U. S. public health infrastructure, an infrastructure that many experts argue has been weakened by years of neglect and under-funding. To better understand the preparedness gaps that exist, as well as the disparate functions and agencies that define public health in this country, the Congressional Research Service (CRS), in conjunction with George Washington University's National Health Policy Forum (NHPF), convened a seminar on October 26, 2001, entitled, The U.S. Health Care System: Are State and Local Officials Prepared for Bioterrorism? How Should the Federal Government Assist? This report was supported, in part, by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Speakers included William L. Roper, M.D., M.P.H., Dean, School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina; Georges C. Benjamin, M.D., Secretary, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; Amy Smithson, Ph.D., Director, Chemical and Biological Weapons Non-Proliferation Project, the Henry L. Stimson Center; and Janet Heinrich, Dr. P.H., R.N., Director, Health Care - Public Health, U.S. General Accounting Office. The panelists presented a detailed overview of public health and the difficult choices the country faces in preparedness planning and rebuilding. The speakers made clear in their remarks that while immediate needs must be met, the importance of planning for the longer-term must not be overlooked. They suggested the need to recognize the multitude of returns on initial investments in public health. For example, if some drug-resistant bacteria were to emerge, independent of any terrorist activity, the capabilities developed to combat bioterrorism would be invaluable.

Based upon their varied experiences, there was general consensus among all the speakers that public health preparedness, while dependent upon federal financial and other assistance, was largely a local matter. They argued that mending the gaps in the current public health fabric will require significant long-term commitments from the federal government, including investments and improvements in: laboratory capacity, regional planning, workforce training, epidemiology and surveillance systems, information systems, communication systems, and media relations.

The panelists stressed that as priorities are set and resources committed, it is imperative that all preparedness efforts be coordinated at all levels of government - federal, state, and local.