U.S. Provides $896M for Local Health Readiness

The U.S. Health and Human Services Department announced yesterday that it had distributed $896.7 million to support health preparedness and emergency response efforts in U.S. cities, states and territories (see GSN, July 2).

The money adds to $430 million made available in June to help hospitals and other health care facilities prepare for acts of bioterrorism, disease outbreaks and natural disasters that could result in a high casualty count.

“The funding represents another step in our nation’s effort to increase our state and local public health preparedness and emergency response capabilities,” Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said in a statement.

Funding includes:

— $35 million for poison control centers to increase their capabilities to detect, monitor and investigate chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear disasters in order to improve health care and public responses;

— $57.3 million for the Cities Readiness Initiative, a program intended to provide oral medications to all affected residents of certain cities in a public health emergency;

— $175 million to support planning by public health departments for an influenza pandemic; and

— $5.4 million for states bordering Mexico and Canada to develop a program for detecting, investigating and reporting infectious disease cases around national borders.

The state of California received the largest single amount, $65.3 million, with another $30.7 million directed toward Los Angeles County.  The agency also directed $28.8 million to New York City, $15.7 million to Chicago and $9.9 million to the District of Columbia.  Wyoming, the least populated state, received the smallest amount of any state with $5.7 million.  The lowest total amount went to the U.S. territory of Palau, which received $471,804.

Health and Human Services has provided more than $7 billion for state and local preparedness programs since 2002 (U.S. Health and Human Services Department release, July 17).

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