MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Bhavini Patel Murthy, MD MPH Division of State and Local Readiness Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response and Epidemic Intelligence Service CDC, Atlanta  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Public health preparedness is critical to ensure national health security. Recurring disasters (both natural and man-made), especially recent weather emergencies in Texas in Florida, have highlighted the need for robust coordination between federal, state, local, territorial and tribal governments to adequately prepare and respond to public health emergencies. The Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) program provides funding to state, local and territorial governments to prevent, protect, respond, and rapidly recover from large and small public health emergencies. This is the first analysis of preparedness capabilities based on reports from all 62 jurisdictions that receive PHEP funding across the United States and its territories. We found that most jurisdictions had limited preparedness capacity prior to 9/11, but now have made considerable progress. For example, all 62 jurisdictions now report having an incident management infrastructure. (more…)