Katrina reveals fatal weaknesses in US public health
An editorial in this week's Lancet states that despite warnings from the IOM in 2002 (Future of PH in the 21st Century), the Federal Government has failed to provide necessary infrastructure support for the Public Health System in the U.S. The editorial discusses the weakness of links within the public health system, and lack of response coordination among the local. state and federal public health agencies. There is no formal cordination and response, just plans on paper without force of law. The editorial suiggests that rather than placing public health response within Homeland Security it should be within HHS. Further, the editorial states that "assessment criteria to test states' compliance with national obligations have been criticised as meaningless and impossible to measure"