Here is an interesting look at hospital preparedness from
Trust for Americas Health and worth the time to read.
"...the H1N1 outbreak also underscored the "existing gaps in public health preparedness." Decades of chronic underfunding of public health meant that many of the core systems that would have been invaluable to have in place during an emergency were not at-the-ready when H1N1 emerged..."
In short, after 9/11:
- $8 billion-in all hazards emergency preparedness
- ongoing appropriations of more than $300 million a year at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Department of Health & Human Services (HHS)
- approximately $15 billion in pandemic-specific investment
The events following Swine Flu 2009 showed that we're still not ready for a predicted, natural event. Not to mention lack of preparedness for an occult biological (intentional) event.
