FY 2020 Annual Performance Plan and Report - Goal 2 Objective 4

Topics on this page: Goal 2. Objective 4 | Objective 2.4 Table of Related Performance Measures

Goal 2. Objective 4: Prepare for and respond to public health emergencies

The health of Americans during public health emergencies and other incidents depends on the effectiveness of preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery efforts. Threats in an increasingly interconnected, complex, and dangerous world include naturally emerging infectious diseases; frequent and severe weather events; state and non-state actors that have access to chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear agents; non-state actors who commit acts of mass violence; and cyber-attacks on HHS is engaged in the research, development, and procurement of medical countermeasures, which include vaccines, drugs, therapies, and diagnostic tools. HHS collaborates with others to ensure that the appropriate number of safe and effective medical countermeasures are developed and stockpiled and can be easily distributed and used to save lives during an incident. HHS also invests in building the capacity of other countries to detect, prevent, and respond to incidents.

The Office of the Secretary leads this objective. The following divisions are responsible for implementing programs under this strategic objective: ACF, ACL, ASA, ASPA, ASPR, CDC, CMS, FDA, HRSA, IHS, IOS, NIH, OASH, OCR, OGA, and SAMHSA.

Objective 2.4 Table of Related Performance Measures

Maintain the percentage of CDC-funded Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) state and local public health agencies that can convene, within 60 minutes of notification, a team of trained staff that can make decisions about appropriate response and interaction with partners (Lead Agency - CDC; Measure ID - 13.5.3)³⁰

Public health agencies must be able to rapidly convene key management staff (within 60 minutes of notification) to appropriately respond to an emergency. This effort includes the integration of information and the prioritization of resources to ensure timely and effective coordination within the public health agency and key response partners. In FY 2017, 93 percent of PHEP-funded public health agencies convened trained staff within 60 minutes of notification to make decisions regarding partner engagement and incident response, slightly below the target of 96 percent. Some jurisdictions did not meet the target because they did not or could not submit adequate documentation to accompany staff assembly results. In FY 2019 and 2020, CDC will continue to work with awardees to improve results and achieve future targets.

Increase the number of new licensed medical countermeasures within Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) (Lead Agency - ASPR; Measure ID - 2.4.13a)

BARDA's mission is to develop and make available medical countermeasures (MCMs) to address some of the most serious threats our nation could face. These include chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear agents, pandemic influenza, and emerging (or re-emerging) infectious disease threats. In FY 2018, nine BARDA-supported programs achieved FDA licensure/approval/clearance. These products improve our nations' preparedness against these threats and supports ASPR's mission to protect American and save lives. BARDA worked with public and private partners to transition candidates for vaccines, antivirals, diagnostics, and medical devices – known collectively as MCMs – from early development into the advanced and late-stages of development and approval. BARDA's cost-efficient and innovative approach to MCM development is stimulating dormant industry sectors and revolutionizing the medical technology needed to protect communities from national health security threats and other public health emergencies.

BARDA's approach to advanced research and development has a proven track record of success due to continuous collaboration with NIH, CDC, FDA, and the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Veteran Affairs, and Agriculture. These agencies set research and development priorities under a five-year strategy and implementation plan. In FY 2019 and 2020, BARDA will continue to monitor progress towards an agile, robust and sustainable U.S. manufacturing infrastructure capable of rapidly producing vaccines and other biologics against pandemic influenza and other emerging threats.