1 - Public Health Preparedness History and Policy

Abstract

This chapter provides a historical overview of public health emergency preparedness. It summarizes major events influencing US policy on public health emergency preparedness and response, which has its roots in the establishment of maritime hospitals used to provide screening and care for sailors, merchants, and immigrants who carried diseases from around the world. The public health preparedness focus shifted from general sanitation and infectious disease control measures to concerns about biological warfare during World War II. Decades later, public health preparedness received renewed focus following the 2001 terrorist attacks and amid concerns about bioterrorism. An all-hazards approach was adopted following the 2005 Hurricane Katrina response and 2006 emerging avian influenza threat. This chapter describes how public health preparedness policies evolved throughout history, leading to the introduction of public health and medical preparedness programs and the establishment of preparedness as a specific public health discipline.