Report: U.S. is unprepared for future outbreaks

A new report from Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that preparedness for future outbreaks is lacking on a federal and state level. The report says half of the states and District of Columbia have poor grades in preparedness categories such as funding for public health services, flu vaccinations, reduction of central line-associated bloodstream infections, and emergency lab test response times.

The report notes that lack of funding is a cause of poor preparedness, with 22 states cutting public health budgets since 2012. Similarly, federal agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have seen their funding level off.

Read the report here.