by Brianna Crandall — January 7, 2015—A report released recently by Trust for America’s Health (TFAH), funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), finds that the Ebola outbreak exposes serious underlying gaps in the nation’s ability to manage severe infectious disease threats.
Half of states and Washington, D.C., scored five or lower out of 10 key indicators related to preventing, detecting, diagnosing and responding to outbreaks. Maryland, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia tied for the top score—achieving eight out of 10 indicators. Arkansas scored the lowest at two out of 10.
Score summary:
- 8 out of 10: Maryland, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia
- 7 out of 10: California, Delaware, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin
- 6 out of 10: Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota and Texas
- 5 out of 10: Alabama, D.C., Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah and West Virginia
- 4 out of 10: Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and Washington
- 3 out of 10: Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, Ohio and Wyoming
- 2 out of 10: Arkansas
“Over the last decade, we have seen dramatic improvements in state and local capacity to respond to outbreaks and emergencies. But we also saw during the recent Ebola outbreak that some of the most basic infectious disease controls failed when tested,” said Jeffrey Levi, PhD, executive director of TFAH. “The Ebola outbreak is a reminder that we cannot afford to let our guard down. We must remain vigilant in preventing and controlling emerging threats—like MERS-CoV, pandemic flu and Enterovirus—but not at the expense of ongoing, highly disruptive and dangerous diseases—seasonal flu, HIV/AIDS, antibiotic resistance and healthcare-associated infections.”
The report, prepared in consultation with public health experts, examined public data and information from public officials to analyze progress and gaps in the areas of: preparing for emerging threats, vaccinations, health care-associated infections, sexually transmitted infections and related disease treatment and prevention, and food safety.
The report recommends that it is time to rethink and modernize the health system to better match existing and emerging global disease threats. Priority improvements should include: every state should meet a set of core capabilities and ensure funding to support them; the health-care system and hospitals should be integrated with public health agencies; and strong leadership and accountability is needed for a government-wide approach at all levels.
The Outbreaks: Protecting Americans from Infectious Diseases report and state-by-state materials are available on the TFAH Web site.
