The Independent Panel on the U.S. HHS Ebola Response released a report Thursday saying unless the nation strengthens its ability to respond to major public health threats, the results could be "devastating."
"It's critical that we better prepare our nation for the ever-looming threats to the health of our U.S. and global communities," said Jonathan Fielding, MD, a professor at UCLA who chaired the panel. "Without focus and sustained effort, the result of other novel public health threats could be much more devastating."
The panel, comprised of public health, emergency response and communication experts, was focused on finding lessons learned from HHS' response to the Ebola crisis. Among its findings were the following:
- The U.S. government was not sufficiently prepared to respond to crises that need an integrated, rapid domestic and international response.
- The U.S. did not make full use of the National Response plan, and HHS didn't use existing plans for pandemics.
- More effective coordination between local, state and federal governments is sorely needed.
The panel issued several key recommendations on how to improve the nation's response to such threats in the future, including the following:
- HHS needs to expand and strengthen multilateral alliances to help expedite an effective response, including working with other nations more closely to agree on guidelines for vaccine and medication development.
- HHS should improve coordination with all U.S. government response partners, including the National Security Council to better define the roles HHS and other government departments will play in crisis situations.
- HHS needs to develop a public communication framework to be used for all governmental responses during a crisis and serve as the basis of a common public health communication system.
- The U.S. government needs to provide enough funding for HHS to respond and prepare for such emergencies.
"Despite heroic efforts to combat the Ebola crisis, there is much to be done to be prepared for current and future threats to public health," said Helene Gayle, MD, a panel member. "We cannot continue to treat each health threat as a one-off event or balance one against the other. We need comprehensive preparedness planning and consistent federal funding. Resources and action in a coordinated way are critical now and in the future if we are going to avoid the preventable loss of lives and human suffering here in the U.S. and around the globe."
See the panel's full report here.