Indicators of progress in local public health preparedness

This presentation will describe the results of a survey conducted by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) to evaluate progress in public health preparedness at the local level and the on-going needs of local health departments (LHDs). I will discuss how LHDs have used federal funding to develop public health preparedness infrastructure since 2002, the ongoing funding, policy and resource needs of LHDs, and our recommendations for future preparedness efforts and policy.

NACCHO is working closely with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), to identify common messages and resource needs as they relate to local, state and federal public health preparedness. The results of this survey will be used with survey data from these partner organizations to develop a comprehensive report to be released in the Spring of 2008. This presentation will discuss the results of this joint report and will conclude with a discussion on how local health officials can use these findings to advocate for sustained federal funding for their local preparedness activities.