Dec. 17--Arizona is one of the country's seven worst states in emergency health preparedness, a new report says.
The seventh annual "Ready or Not? Protecting the Public's Health from Diseases Disasters and Bioterrorism" report released this week gave Arizona a score of five out of 10 key indicators of public health emergency preparedness.
Among other things, the report says Arizona has purchased less than 50 percent of its share of federally subsidized antiviral drugs to stockpile for use during an influenza pandemic.
The report was released by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
State health officials in Arizona questioned the indicators and called the report flawed. For one thing, the state gets antivirals from the federal government for free, so there's no need to purchase them, they said.
"A real life pandemic comes out, we ace it, and people throw rocks at us from the banks of the Potomac. It's frustrating for my staff," said Will Humble, interim director of the Arizona Department of Health Services.
"I'd put the term indicators in quotation marks -- they are not relevant to performance," he said.
The report's authors said the H1N1 flu outbreak has exposed serious gaps in the nation's ability to respond to public health emergencies and that the economic crisis is straining an already fragile public health system.
Low scores
The report found that 20 states scored six or less and nearly two-thirds scored seven or less.
The states scoring five or less out of 10 were Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Maine, Washington and Montana.
Montana had the lowest score in the report: three out of 10.
High scores
Arkansas, Delaware, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas and Vermont scored nine out of 10.
Arizona's deficiencies
--Has not purchased 50 percent or more of its share of federally subsidized antiviral medications to prepare for a potential pandemic flu outbreak.
--Did not identify the pathogen responsible for reported food-borne disease outbreaks at a rate that met or exceeded the national average of 46 percent (based on combined data from 2005 to 2007).
--Does not require all licensed childcare facilities to have a multi-hazard written evaluation and relocation plan for emergencies.
--Does not have a law or legal opinion in place to limit liability against organizations that provide volunteer help during emergencies.
--Did not increase or maintain a level of funding for public health services from fiscal year 2007-08 to fiscal year 2008-09.
Where Arizona scored points
--Submitted data on available hospital beds weekly for at least 50 percent of the facilities within the state to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the 2009 H1N1 response.
--Public health lab has the capacity in place to assure the timely pickup and delivery of disease samples on a 24/7, 365-day basis.
--Public health lab reports having enough staff to work the intense hours needed during an emergency like H1N1.
--Tracks diseases through an Internet system used by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
--Meets the Medical Reserve Corps readiness criteria for medical volunteering during an emergency.
Arizona response
Will Humble said the state is well-prepared for a public health emergency.
"I don't understand how they spent a whole year on this thing," he said of the report released Tuesday. "I would take this report with a grain of salt and I'd be telling you the same thing if we got nine out of 10."
Humble stressed that recent emergency preparedness reports from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security gave Arizona high marks.
More information
To see the full report, go to www.healthyamericans.org or www.rwjf.org
Contact reporter Stephanie Innes at 573-4134 or sinnes@azstarnet.com. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/stephanieinnes
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