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Nation Inadequately Prepared for Severe Pandemic, Says NGA

September 16, 2008 By News Report

States are making significant progress toward safeguarding their citizens against an influenza pandemic, but the nation as a whole remains inadequately prepared for a severe pandemic outbreak according to a new report by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center). The report, Pandemic Preparedness in the States: An Assessment of Progress and Opportunity, presents an overall appraisal of the current level of pandemic preparedness in the states and offers recommendations for improvement in five areas.

"Even though this issue largely has fallen off the public's radar, states recognize that successfully managing a pandemic outbreak requires a sustained effort to combat the threat in all sectors of the economy and in society as a whole," said Chris Logan, program director of the NGA Center's Homeland Security and Technology Division. "The conclusions of this report serve a vital national service: they demonstrate both the extent of our readiness as well as the gaps in our current preparedness."

The report draws some startling conclusions about the state of our preparedness, most notably that non-medical and non-health-related areas remain, in many cases, unprepared. If a pandemic were to strike, all sectors of government and society would likely be affected. As such, agencies and personnel across the spectrum of state government must be actively engaged. In addition, states should be pursuing improvement in five key areas of preparedness:

1. Workforce Policies: Because every sector of the economy and government will be impacted by a pandemic outbreak, states should develop and test policies that account for the ability -- or lack thereof -- of personnel to perform their duties from home or in settings away from the office for extended periods of time.

2. Schools: States should develop communications strategies to begin educating communities about the purpose and limitations of school closure, and ensure that federal guidance on school closure and reopening is widely disseminated and understood by all levels of government.

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Governors Address Pandemics and Continuity of Government

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