U.S. Unprepared To Handle Natural Disaster, Disease Outbreak, Bioterrorist Attack, Opinion Piece Says

Main Category: Bio-terrorism / Terrorism
Article Date: 17 Dec 2005 - 5:00 PDT

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US states and cities are "unprepared to handle public health catastrophes caused by disease, natural disaster or bioterrorism, despite the terrible lessons" of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the Hurricane Katrina calamity, Thomas Kean, chair of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and CEO of RWJF, write in a Philadelphia Inquirer opinion piece. The authors raise concerns that "no one is watching our backs" and that the "government is not living up to its obligation to protect the security and health of our people." According to the authors, the U.S. can begin to address the issue through increased funds for public health and disease prevention. They write that the U.S. also should "let state and local health and preparedness officials do their jobs without undue hassle, delay or second-guessing and with consistent and measurable standards, good coordination, enough resources and savvy leadership." In addition, the U.S. should "engage business, the faith community and civic organizations more fully into public health and emergency preparedness" to ensure "no one ... is left behind in these days of terror and threat," the authors write. The "public has every right to expect that the strongest and most powerful country in the world would be ready for the very worst, but it is not," the authors write, adding, "We don't have much time left to make this right. Until we are able to put moral purpose ahead of expedient politics, history will judge us a democracy unwilling or unable to take care of its own" (Kean/Lavizzo-Mourey, Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/16).

"Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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