White House releases strategy to improve preparedness for future biological threats

Editor's Note

On October 18, the White House released the “National Biodefense Strategy and Implementation Plan for Countering Biological Threats, Enhancing Pandemic Preparedness, and Achieving Global Health Security” (the strategy), Becker's Hospital Review October 19 reports. The strategy includes the objective to create enough vaccines for the US population within 130 days of an outbreak.

President Biden administration officials note that the strategy will focus on early awareness, improved diagnostics of infectious threats, and efficient vaccine rollout, according to the article.

This effort to strengthen health security will reportedly require involvement from 20 federal agencies. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is helping to execute the strategy with existing funding. The strategy’s objectives will require additional financial support, including $88 billion that President Joe Biden requested as part of the budget for 2023.

Here are four of the strategy’s objectives, according to Becker's:

• pathogen testing availability within 12 hours of an outbreak
• vaccine development within 100 days of an outbreak and enough supply for the population within 130 days
• therapeutic development within 180 days of an outbreak
• preparedness with personal protective equipment (PPE) and expansion of surge capacity by maintaining a minimum 90-day PPE surge capability.

Read the White House press release here. For more stories on disaster preparedness, access the OR Manager series here.