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Published by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security
Editors: Diane Meyer, RN, MPH; Divya Hosangadi, MSPH & Amanda Kobokovich, MPH
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Public Health & Healthcare Preparedness
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RESEARCH
Notes from the Field: Tuberculosis Control in the Aftermath of Hurricane Maria - Puerto Rico, 2017.
The Puerto Rico Department of Health Tuberculosis Control Program (PRTB) conducts tuberculosis (TB) surveillance and control activities through six regional clinics, directed by a central office in San Juan. PRTB uses directly observed therapy as the standard of care to ensure adherence to treatment. Beginning in mid-2016, PRTB had transitioned some patients from self-administered or directly observed therapy to video-observed therapy (vDOT) using a smartphone. However, the widespread and extended interruption in power and wireless communication made vDOT unavailable after the hurricane.
(MMWR, 1/18/19)
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PRESS RELEASE
To drive US actions to prepare, respond, and recover in the face of modern health security threats, Congress mandated a quadrennial National Health Security Strategy (NHSS). The 2019-2022 NHSS assesses the current and future threat environment and outlines how the federal government will address vulnerabilities and gaps in public health and health care capabilities. ASPR leads the development and implementation of this strategy.
(PHE ASPR Blog, 1/16/19)
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NEWS
BARDA Looks to Expand Clinical Studies Network for Biodefense Countermeasures.
In an effort to improve preparedness, the U.S. federal government is seeking to bolster Clinical Studies Network service capabilities for advanced clinical development of medical countermeasures to treat the adverse health effects resulting from exposure to chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threat agents, pandemic influenza and emerging infectious diseases. BARDA's Clinical Studies Network (CSN) conducts Phase I, II, III, and IV trials and provides other services for the development of vaccines and therapeutics.
(Global Biodefense, 1/14/19)
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Homeland Security & Disaster Preparedness
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NEWS
Lawmakers Address Shutdown, Wildfire Preparedness Efforts. Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) are expressing concerns concerning the federal government shutdown's impact on wildfire preparedness and prevention. The legislators recently joined 10 of their colleagues in forwarding correspondence to President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, urging an end to the shutdown while highlighting wildfire preparedness impacts.
(Homeland Preparedness News, 1/16/19)
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NEWS
The Shutdown Is Doing Lasting Damage to National Security. As the longest government shutdown in American history drags on, it's not just hurting the morale of America's federal workforce and the broader American economy. It's hurting our national security. Some of the damage is already plainly apparent-but in four crucial ways, its harms will persist long after the government reopens.
(Defense One, 1/16/19)
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Radiological & Nuclear Disaster Preparedness
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Science & Technology Policy
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PRESS RELEASE
DARPA Explores New Computing Architectures to Deliver Verifiable Data Assurances. To create scalable solutions that provide safe, verifiable methods of tracking information and communications between systems, DARPA launched the Guaranteed Architecture for Physical Security (GAPS) program. The goal of GAPS is to develop hardware and software architectures that can provide physically provable guarantees around high-risk transactions, or where data moves between systems of different security levels. DARPA wants to ensure that these transactions are isolated and that the systems they move across are enabled with the necessary data security assertions.
(DARPA, 1/16/19)
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There are no hearings this week.
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