CDC To Develop State Scoring System for Bioterrorism, Natural Disaster Preparedness
The CDC is working to develop a scoring system to measure states' preparedness for bioterrorism and other health emergencies, the AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. An Institute of Medicine committee on Thursday reviewed the agency's initial plans, which will include hiring an independent group to evaluate how states have spent $3 billion in federal funds to develop mandatory programs designed to recognize early warning signs of disease, track outbreaks, train health care providers and communicate with the public. The group will evaluate states' ability to organize responses such as opening mass-vaccination clinics if a single case of smallpox were reported anywhere in the world. The CDC is still determining how to calculate preparedness for various levels of public health threats, but agency officials say they hope to test the system in January and to begin evaluations next summer (Neergaard, AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 11/7).
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