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The US Department of Health and Human Services has “persistent deficiencies” in its ability to prepare for and respond to public health-related emergencies. This is stated in a report released on Thursday by the agency that oversees on behalf of Congress, the work of government agencies. The report addresses concerns raised by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Department of Health is at “high risk” of mismanaging a future crisis, according to a report by the Office of Government Accountability (GAO), noting that the department failed to implement some of the recommendations made earlier to improve response. to the pandemic. ‘GAO’ said in its report that beyond the pandemic, there are various threats that underline the need to prepare.
“As devastating as the COVID-19 pandemic has been, increasingly frequent extreme weather events, new viruses and malicious actors threatening to cause deliberate damage are emerging, making the shortcomings that ‘GAO’ has identified particularly disturbing “, the report says. “Not being prepared enough for a range of public health emergencies can negatively affect the time and resources needed to fully recover.”
As an example of a lack of preparedness from the Department of Health, ‘GAO’ said it had warned of shortages of tests for COVID-19 starting in September 2020 and then recommended in January last year that the department draw up a comprehensive strategy. national testing.
In its response in May 2021, the department told the oversight agency that it would provide a document outlining its plans. “However, to date, the department has not provided this document,” the GAO report said. “The department’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted long-standing concerns we have raised about its ability to play a leading role in federal public health and medical preparedness, as well as responding to such public health emergencies.” , the report says.
The department responded with a statement Thursday stating:
“We share the focus and urgency mentioned by ‘GAO’ in combating this once-in-a-century pandemic and the desire to ensure that we never encounter a pandemic of this magnitude again.” The report cites ongoing problems in coordination between public health agencies and in collecting data on infectious diseases.
The United States officially has the highest number of deaths in the world caused by the coronavirus, with over 870,000 deaths recorded since the pandemic began. The total number of cases is over 72 million, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Referring to a draft report earlier this month, Reuters reported that GAO had warned that the Department of Health appeared unprepared to take full responsibility for the national COVID-19 vaccination program./VOA
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