Examining the Reauthorization of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act: Public Health Emergencies, Strategic National Stockpile, Biologic Surveillance and Bioterrorism, Preparing for Disaster

This is the record of a major House hearing in June 2018 dealing with pandemic and public health hazard preparedness. Congressman Burgess stated at the start of the hearing: The creation of the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response under the original legislation in 2006 has helped us to make monumental strides in preparedness, coordination, and response. Close collaboration and efforts between the Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration, our local, state, and tribal and territorial health partners has been vital in making progress in this regard. Much like politics, public health is local and it is executed on the ground by our hospitals, by our health departments, and our emergency responders who are our front lines addressing infectious diseases, disasters, and threats. You'll hear more about critical issues that must be addressed to continue and strengthen the nation's preparedness and response capabilities. We will talk about proposals to strengthen the Strategic National Stockpile, our cache of life-saving medications and supplies for public health emergencies. We also must address the policies that affect our regional disaster response system. It is essential the program continues to integrate and coordinate at the local level. Additionally, we must provide assurances to protect those who respond to our health emergencies. We will also discuss sustaining the robust and reliable security capabilities such as disease surveillance, containment, risk, and countermeasure distribution. We must evaluate the domestic biologic surveillance systems such as BioWatch, taking a closer look at what can be done to bring these programs up to date so that they are operating with the most efficient technologies and capabilities. I believe we must look for innovative ways to continue to advance medical countermeasures, ensuring that Americans can access medications that will provide critical protection in the future. As we consider the problem of antimicrobial resistance in this country, we must address new methods to curb this growing problem.

Contents: Examining the Reauthorization of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act * Opening Statements * Witnesses * Robert Kadlec, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness And Response, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services * Stephen Redd, Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention * Anna Abram, Deputy Commissioner for Policy, Planning, Legislation, and Analysis, U.S. Food and Drug Administration * Umair Shah, Executive Director, Harris County Public Health * Dr. Michelle Berrey, President and CEO, Chimerix, Inc * Erik Decker, Chief Security and Privacy Officer, University of Chicago Medicine * Records Submission * Questions for the Record

This compilation includes a reproduction of the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community.

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