Reports: Nation’s public health capacity lacking, though Ohio better than most

In a new report from the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Ohio ranks in the top half of states for the ability of its public health system to handle emergencies, though public-health capacity is declining across the country (Source: “Serious Gaps Revealed in U.S. Response to Health Emergencies,” HealthDay News via Business Week, Dec. 15, 2009).

According to the report (pdf, 124), which examines public health emergency preparedness with a focus on the recent H1N1 outbreak and economic downturn, Ohio was one of 10 states that scored an 8 on the 10-point scale. However, the report found that public health capacity across the country was lacking.

"The H1N1 flu outbreak vividly exposed serious underlying gaps in the nation's ability to respond to public health emergencies," said Richard Hamburg, deputy director of the Trust for America's Health. "On top of that, trying to respond to the pandemic in the middle of the worst economic climate since the Great Depression meant that we were asking public health officials to try to do more with less as budgets, and staff were stretched well beyond their limits."

Five states scored a perfect 10 and 7 states got a score of 9 in the report. Ohio was singled out in the report as one of three states (along with California and Kansas) in which public health labs report that they cannot meet the expectations of the state’s pandemic flu plan. On a positive note, the report highlights that, among the 30 states that responded to a 2007 ASTHO survey, Ohio has the nation’s lowest percentage (14 percent) of public health workers who are eligible for retirement in the next five years.

Also last week, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbitity and Mortality Weekly Report featured the results of a study titled Assessment of Epidemiology Capacity in State Health Departments.

The report concluded that, compared with 2006, the percentage of state health departments with substantial-to-full (greater than 50 percent) epidemiology capacity decreased in three of four essential services of public health that were studied. Also, more than 30 percent of states reported minimal-to-no (less than 25 percent) capacity to evaluate and conduct research for five of nine epidemiology program areas, including environmental health, injury, occupational health, oral health, and substance abuse.