The nonprofit Trust for America's Health has released a report with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on the U.S.'s ability to "prevent, control and treat infectious disease outbreaks."
The report, "Outbreaks: Protecting Americans From Infectious Diseases," found the country's capabilities lacking in many areas due to infrastructural and resource limitations, including outdated systems. Additional findings include:
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- 34 states meet only half of key indicators for infectious disease prevention and control.
- Georgia, Nebraska and New Jersey had the worst capabilities to prevent infectious disease, while New Hampshire, Connecticut, Delaware, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington had the best infectious disease prevention capabilities.
- Vaccination rates among states were low, with vaccinations for influenza, whooping cough and the human papilloma virus fallow well below levels recommended by HHS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Approximately 45,000 adults die each year from disease preventable through vaccination, according to RWJF.
- Over 50 percent of public health laboratories did not test their continuity of operations plans in 2012.
- About two-thirds of states decreased public health funding between 2012 and 2013.
- One-third of states do require healthcare-associated infection reporting from their healthcare facilities.
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