Research #2 - US Government

For today, I decide to look through policies and strategies that are already in place that we can potentially target.

Pandemic Influenza Plan 2017 By US Department of Health and Human Services (HSS)

Pandemic influenza is different from other outbreaks we have faced because the characteristics of influenza viruses – their propensity to change, the ability to spread easily among people, and the routes of transmission – make the disease challenging to contain.

Viruses have become enzootic among poultry in many parts of the world

HHS has also stated the following 7 areas as key pandemic response elements.

1. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Activities

• Better detection and monitoring of seasonal and emerging novel influenza viruses are critical to assuring a rapid recognition and response to a pandemic. Over the next decade, HHS will increase use of new gene sequencing technologies for detecting and characterizing influenza viruses in the U.S. and globally. Candidate vaccine viruses will be more rapidly developed and synthesized when needed, to speed manufacturing of vaccines. Greater use of ‘big data’, analytics, and forecasting will enhance surveillance and planning.

2. Community Mitigation Measures

• Incorporating actions and response measures people and communities can take to help slow the spread of novel influenza virus. Community mitigation measures may be used from the earliest stages of an influenza pandemic, including the initial months when the most effective countermeasure—a vaccine against the new pandemic virus—might not yet be broadly available.

3. Medical Countermeasures: Diagnostic Devices, Vaccines, Therapeutics, and Respiratory Devices

• Aggressive translation of applied research in diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines may yield breakthrough MCMs to mitigate the next influenza pandemic. Building on existing systems for product logistics, as well as advances in technology and regulatory science, can increase access to and use of critical countermeasures to inform response activities.

4. Health Care System Preparedness and Response Activities

• Delivery system reform efforts of the past decade have made today’s health care system dramatically different from 2005. The next 10 years will bring even more changes to delivery settings, provider types, reimbursement models, the sharing of electronic health information, referral patterns, business relationships, and expanded individual choice. Despite these changes, health care systems must be prepared to respond to a pandemic, recognizing that potentially large numbers of people with symptoms of influenza, as well as those concerned about the pandemic will present for care. Systems must implement surge strategies so people receive care that is appropriate to their level of need, thereby conserving higher levels of care for those who need them. HHS must keep abreast of these changes and adapt tools and strategies accordingly.

5. Communications and Public Outreach

• Communications planning is integral to early and effective messaging when a pandemic threatens, establishes itself, and expands. Accurate, consistent, timely, and actionable communication is enhanced by the use of plain language and accessible formats. Testing messages and using appropriate channels and spokespeople will enhance our ability to deliver consistent and accurate information to multiple audiences.

6. Scientific Infrastructure and Preparedness

• A strong scientific infrastructure underpins everything HHS does to prepare for, and respond to, pandemic influenza and other emerging infectious diseases. Strong scientific foundations are needed to develop new vaccines and therapeutics, and to determine how well other control efforts are working. Rigorous scientific methods applied during a pandemic response yield information to improve both ongoing and future responses.

7. Domestic and International Response Policy, Incident Management, and Global Partnerships and Capacity Building

• HHS will continue to coordinate both domestic and international pandemic preparedness and response activities. This will include having clearly defined mechanisms for rapid exchange of information, data, reagents and other resources needed domestically and globally, to prepare for and respond to an influenza pandemic outbreak.

It can be seen that, to truly save lives during pandemic, is to be prepared before the pandemic even occurs. The preparedness can be having the infrastructure in place, therefore people will know where to go, or ensuring the populace have sufficient knowledge in ensuring hygiene and knowing how to avoid or isolate themselves from the flu and prevent spread of flu.

With all these preparation in place, when the pandemic occurs, there will not be much chaos amongst the populace. Having chaos and people not knowing what to do, can not only inhibit responders from performing their duties and actions to take, it can also speed up the spread of flu which can adversely affect the impact of responders effectiveness.

This is just the US government's plan for action, I have yet to look into Non-Government Organizations.

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Resources:

Pandemic Influenza Plan 2017

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/pdf/pan-flu-report-2017v2.pdf