Emergency preparedness and public health systems lessons for developing countries.
Low- and middle-income countries, where emerging diseases often make their debut, are also likely to bear the harshest consequences of a potential influenza pandemic. Yet public health systems in developing countries are underfunded, understaffed, and in many cases struggling to deal with the existing burden of disease. As a result, developed countries are beginning to expand assistance for emergency preparedness to the developing world. Given developing countries' weak infrastructure and many competing public health priorities, it is not clear how to best direct these resources. Evidence from the U.S. and other developed countries suggests that some investments in bioterror and pandemic emergency preparedness, although initially implemented as vertical programs, have the potential to strengthen the general public health infrastructure. This experience may hold some lessons for how global funds for emergency preparedness could be invested in developing countries to support struggling public health systems in responding to current health priorities as well as potential future public health threats.
Kruk
Margaret E
ME
University of Michigan School of Public Health, Department of Health Management and Policy, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA. mkruk@umich.edu
D002959:Civil Defense / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003142:Communication; D003906:Developing Countries; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education; D006280:Health Workforce; D006801:Humans; D007256:Information Systems / Q000458:organization & administration; D007391:International Cooperation; D007753:Laboratories / Q000458:organization & administration; D011635:Public Health Administration; D014481:United States