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The nation’s response to health emergencies like bio-terror attacks and natural disasters is slow, short-term and underfunded, according to a new report on emergency preparedness. The Trust for American’s Health, a public health advocacy group, said a lack of ongoing planning and resources left holes in the budgets of other health priority programs – such as for hepatitis C and measles outbreaks –from which money was borrowed but rarely fully restored. (Goldstein, 12/20)

A new report finds Ohio met six of 10 indicators of public-health preparedness, signaling it could do more to prepare for a statewide emergency. The report by the nonprofit Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation graded the nation’s ability to prevent, detect, diagnose and respond to infectious-disease outbreaks. (Huson, 12/21)

One of the indicators checks whether states have increased — or at least maintained — their spending on public health. Twenty-six states met that standard from fiscal year 2014–2015 to fiscal year 2015–2016. Kansas and North Carolina are the only two states that have cut their public health budgets three consecutive years. Nationally, median public health spending in fiscal year 2016 was $37.20 per person. Kansas spent $12.13 per person for public health. Missouri’s public health budget was only $5.88 per person. (Thompson, 12/20)