Is Arizona ready for an infectious disease outbreak? A recent report suggests our state may not be.
The Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) report found that Arizona is one of 28 states that scored a five or lower out of 10 key indicators related to preventing, detecting, diagnosing and responding to infectious disease outbreaks.
Our state scored points for:
- Public Health Funding,
- HIV/Aids Surveillance,
- Public Health Labs (having a biosafety professional),
- Public Health Labs (providing biosafety training), and
- Food Safety.
Arizona did not receive any points in:
- Flu Vaccination Rates,
- Childhood Immunization School Requirement Policies,
- Syringe Exchange Programs,
- Climate Change and Infectious Disease, and
- Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSI).
The infographic below details the areas where Arizona did well and where work still needs to be done.
To give you some perspective on how we stand compared to other states, five scored the highest total of 8-out-of-10 (Delaware, Kentucky, Maine, New York and Virginia). Six others scored a seven and 11 more scored a six.
They (researchers) added that the United States must boost efforts to protect Americans from new threats such as Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and antibiotic-resistant superbugs, along with resurging diseases such as tuberculosis, whooping cough and gonorrhea.
“The overuse of antibiotics and underuse of vaccinations, along with unstable and insufficient funding have left major gaps in our country’s ability to prepare for infectious disease threats,” said Jeffrey Levi, executive director of TFAH.”
Share your thoughts on how we can improve the areas where Arizona is struggling to make sure the people of our state are protected in the event of an infectious disease outbreak. Finding solutions to these types of health issues will help us take another big step toward our vision of making Arizona the Healthiest State in the Nation!