In “Ready or Not? Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters and Bioterrorism,” 25 states scored a 5 or lower on 10 key indicators of public health preparedness. The report, issued by the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH), found the U.S. does not invest enough to maintain strong, basic core capabilities for health security readiness and, instead, is in a continued state of inefficiently reacting with federal emergency supplemental funding packages each time a disaster strikes. Federal funding to support the base level of preparedness has been cut by more than half since 2002, which has eroded advancements and reduced the country’s capabilities.
The report can be obtained at http://healthyamericans.org/assets/files/TFAH-2017-ReadyOrNot-Fnl.pdf.