Suffering Public Health Departments Putting People at Risk

[Mass]

One of the often forgotten aspects of governing, and one that state governments have been cutting more and more, in a deafening silence.

And, while red states are predictably in the red side of the graph, as expected (Virginia and Tennessee excepted), MA and VT and other blue states like CA and IL are lagging behind with the a bunch of red states.

http://www.governing.com/topics/health-human-services/gov-public-health-departments-falling-behind.html

After years of cutting public health, states are falling behind on vaccinating their residents and guarding against the possibility of disease outbreaks, food-borne illness and other threats, a new study released Tuesday concluded.

The Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation rated states on 10 measures, including public health spending in recent years, the percentage of their populations receiving vaccinations for preventable diseases, how recently they’ve tested their emergency plans, whether they have the capacity to handle a surge in testing and whether they require medical facilities to report infections that arise from patients during their treatment.

Among the report’s findings:
Two-thirds of states have decreased public health funding over the last two fiscal years, significantly impacting workforces and lab capacity. In total, 40,000 public health jobs have vanished in the last five years.
Only one quarter of states vaccinate at least half of their residents against the flu, despite Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations that nearly all Americans get vaccinated.
More than half of public health departments didn’t test emergency plans to deal with food-borne illness, an outbreak or biological weapon attack last year
Fewer than half of states require human papillomavirus vaccinations (HPV), education about the vaccine or funding for it, despite risks of cancer and scientific consensus against the conclusion that it increases sexual activity among the young adolescents who receive it.
Only two states and the District of Columbia meet the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services benchmark of providing whooping cough vaccinations to at least 90 percent of preschool children.

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[lonestarnot]

1. Is something left out here?