US readiness for security emergencies eroding-report
Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:25 GMT
WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - U.S. readiness to respond to biological attacks and health emergencies is at risk because of cuts in federal and state spending, a study reported Tuesday.
Budgets for emergency health preparedness increased after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but are now showing steep declines, partly driven by the 2007/8 financial crisis.
"We're seeing a decade's worth of progress eroding in front of our eyes," Jeff Levi, Executive Director of the non-partisan Trust for America's Health (TFAH) said in a statement accompanying the study.
The annual report on health preparedness by TFAH and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation said programs that detect and respond to bioterrorism, new disease outbreaks and disasters were threatened.
It showed that in the last year, 40 states and Washington D.C. cut public health funds, with 29 of the states and the federal capital cutting their budgets for the second year in a row and 15 states for a third successive year.
Federal funds for state and local preparedness fell by 38 percent from fiscal year 2005 to fiscal year 2012. More cuts are expected under a deal reached by Congress in August aimed at cutting the U.S. deficit by $1.2 trillion.
The study warned that 51 of the 72 cities in the Cities Readiness Initiative, which supports distribution and administration of vaccines and medicine during emergencies, could drop out.
The 10 state labs with top-level chemical testing status could lose that designation, the report said. The downgrade would leave the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as the only public health lab with full ability to test for chemical terrorism and accidents.
The CDC's ability to mount an overall response to nuclear, radiological and chemical threats as well as natural disasters is at risk, the study said.
Combined federal, state and local budget cuts meant public health departments can no longer support basic elements of preparedness, it said. (Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Greg McCune and David Storey)
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