BioWar: Rethinking public health
United Press International
By DEE ANN DIVIS, Senior Science & Technology Editor
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
WASHINGTON, Oct 20, 2004 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- A majority of public health experts surveyed for a recent biodefense report thinks state and local public health departments should stop being a provider of last resort for medical care in the United States.
The reason, over 60 percent of study participants said, is the overall size of the public health workforce is insufficient to handle the job in the face of budget deficits and increasing demands -- particularly those made by biodefense programs.
About 30 percent of public health departments provide comprehensive primary care services, according to a survey of 694 local public health agencies done by the National Association of County and City Health Officials in 2000. Such care is the rough equivalent of going to a pediatrician or the family doctor and does not generally refer to care at public hospitals. Comprehensive primary care services were most often provided by agencies in large metropolitan areas, according to the survey.
URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_20770.html (*this news item will not be available after 11/19/2004)