# 5894
While I’m personally more concerned over the probability that nature will produce a new, highly virulent pandemic than the possibility that terrorists might develop and unleash a bio-nightmare – I recognize that both are legitimate concerns - and either could deliver a substantial blow to the United States, and to the world.
So I’m happy to report that a new analysis outlining America’s ability to respond to either type of bio-emergency has just been released.
The WMD Center, a bi-partisan group formed in 2010 and led by two well respected former Senators (Bob Graham, Chairman & Senator Jim Talent, Vice Chairman) along with an advisory group consisting of some of the nation’s leading biodefense experts, has put together an in depth report card on the nation’s ability to respond to a biological threat.
And while much of this report is WMD centric, many of the areas it addresses are equally important during a naturally occurring pandemic.
From the executive summary, this report offers:
- An overview of current and emerging bioterrorism threats,
- Fundamental expectations and evaluations for each of seven bio-response categories,
- An overview of challenges that affect the entire bio-response enterprise, and
- Recommended priorities that will strengthen the nation’s bio-preparedness and response capabilities.
The bottom line, again from the executive summary, is that:
The nation does not yet have adequate bio-response capability to meet fundamental expectations during a large-scale biological event.
As you can see from the color coded report card below, there are a lot of areas where this critical review gives a failing, or near-failing, grade.
Ten years after the anthrax attacks of 2001, out of 40 categories graded, 15 received an F, 10 received a D, and no area received an A.
You can read the entire 73 page report at the link below:
Bio-Response Report Card
The idea for this report card project began late last year, when we asked ourselves the question, “If the nation is unprepared for a biological attack, what more can we do?” Since 2001, the United States government has spent more than $65 billion on biodefense, and yet it has done so without an end-to-end, strategic assessment of the nation’s bioresponse capabilities. This report seeks to fill that gap.
This report indicates that America’s ability to respond to small-scale biological events has improved, but the ability to manage large-scale outbreaks (or worst case scenarios) is severely lacking.
This is a sobering report, highly critical in some areas, and will likely ruffle some feathers.
But it does illustrate just how complex, and difficult, preparing for a large-scale biological threat really is. While this report provides that progress has been made, it also reminds us how much work still remains ahead.
There is a lot of detail in this report, so by all means, it is worth taking the time to read the whole report.
