A report from the Trust for America’s Health finds the nation is often caught off guard when a new medical threat--like Ebola or Zika virus--emerges.
The report analyzed 10 indicators of whether a state was prepared for an outbreak or bioterrorist threat. 26 states only had 6 of the needed indicators. Utah had 7 including public health accreditation, adequate food safety and public health laboratories.
Idaho and Alaska fared the worst in the report, having received only three points on key indicators. Albert Lang, senior communications manager at the Trust for America’s Health, said there are many possible reasons Utah did well.
“Utah is one of the better successful. They’ve really stepped up their laboratory capabilities as well as their food safety capabilities,” Lang said. “And that’s something that Idaho has not really done.”
Massachusetts scored the highest at 10 out of 10. But the one thing only a few states passed on was flu vaccination rates. 10 states have at least half of their population vaccinated for the seasonal flu.
That’s huge according to Lang.
“If we don’t have the mechanisms and the competency in place to do something routine, how are we going to do something at a time of extraordinary stress and with other needs compounding,” Lang said.
The other areas Utah did not pass is in public health funding and emergency health care access.