| ASPR Blog Post: Strengthening Resilience to Rapidly Emerging Threats |
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| Read the latest
blog post
from Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O'Connell on how ASPR's preparedness work ensures that federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial partners have the tools they need to respond to a public health emergency or disaster. This includes the work of HPP to provide funding and resources to local health care coalitions to help them prepare for outbreaks or disasters, as well as that of the Regional Disaster Health Response System (RDHRS) demonstration sites, National Special Pathogen System, and the ASPR Clinical Rounds. |
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Upcoming Trainings and Webinars |
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Event Details |
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) |
Briefing on Fall and Winter Virus Season
CDC Director Mandy K. Cohen will participate in the live webinar, which will include a sneak peek at CDC’s new communications efforts to address the spread of flu, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and resources that will be available for partners. |
Wednesday, October 4
12:00 - 1:30 PM ET
Registration Information |
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CDC |
Zoonoses and One Health
Updates (ZOHU) Call
The October ZOHU call will cover (1) Vaccinating California Condors to Protect Against Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza and (2) Louse and Flea-borne Diseases: Implications for People Experiencing Homelessness and their Companion Animals. |
Wednesday, October 4
2:00 - 3:00 PM ET
Connection Information |
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Association for State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) |
Advancing Maternal Health
with Data Equity
Participants will obtain an overview of the impact data equity has on improving maternal and infant health outcomes as well as the role providers play in advancing maternal health through data equity practices. |
Wednesday, October 4
3:00 - 4:00 PM ET
Registration Information |
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ASTHO |
It's a Weighty Matter: Exploring Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) Weights
This session will focus on increasing awareness on how PRAMS weights are constructed, how to properly subset data for weighted analyses, and when health department staff should be worried about over/under estimation. |
Thursday, October 5
2:00 - 3:00 PM ET
Registration Information |
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CDC |
CDC Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Connects Webinar:
Maternal and Infant Health in Emergency Preparedness and Response
CDC presenter Romeo Galang, Division of Reproductive Health, will discuss maternal and infant populations in disasters and public health emergencies and share tools and resources for state, tribal, local, and territorial emergency planning. |
Wednesday, October 11
1:00 - 2:00 PM ET
Connection Information |
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FDA |
Applied Regulatory Research to Address the Ongoing Opioid Crisis
This presentation will focus on computational methods that have been developed to rapidly assess if newly emerging opioids are a risk to public safety and to evaluate dosing strategies for using opioid receptor antagonists. |
Thursday, October 12
12:00 - 1:00 PM ET
Registration Information |
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FDA |
Use of International Standard ISO 10993-1 "Biological evaluation of medical devices - Part 1: Evaluation and testing within a risk management process" - Final Guidance
The webinar will provide an overview of the new Attachment G, which describes a new policy for certain devices that contact intact skin, explain related changes made to the electronic Submission Template and Resource (eSTAR) form and answer questions about the final guidance and eSTAR changes. |
Thursday, October 12
1:00 - 2:30 PM ET
Registration Information |
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ASPR Technical Resources, Assistance Center, and Information Exchange (TRACIE) |
ASPR TRACIE Roundtable: Lessons Learned from the Pediatric Tripledemic, Systems, Staff, Space and Supplies
panelists will share lessons learned from the 2022-2023 pediatric surge due to influenza, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus. |
Tuesday, October 17
1:00 - 2:15 PM ET
Registration Information |
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FDA |
Naltrexone Injection for Opioid Use Disorder: FDA's Efforts to Reduce Medication Errors
This presentation will focus on the importance of medications used for opioid use disorder and provide an overview of FDA's post-market surveillance process related to
medication errors. |
Tuesday, October 24
1:00 PM ET
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| ASPR TRACIE Resource Spotlight: The Express, September 2023 |
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| National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center (NETEC) Warp Speed Research, Clinical Trials During COVID-19 |
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| Launched in May 2020, Operation Warp Speed (OWS) was a United States government initiative to accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics. In hospitals across the country, health care personnel were positioned to support the clinical trials of vaccines and therapeutics that played a pivotal role in the global effort to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read the full article from NETEC discussing their experiences as research personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic and Mpox outbreak. |
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| Puerto Rico Medical Reserve Corps Provides Vital Medical and Behavioral Health Support to Community |
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The Medical Reserve Corps of Puerto Rico demonstrated the value that these units bring to disaster response: by preparing people in the community to face the coming storm, in treating people’s bodies and minds following the disaster, and by providing volunteer services that offer a positive return on investment.
Read the full profile of their work on the ASPR blog. |
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| Biden-Harris Administration Announces Over $330 Million in New Funding to Advance Biden Cancer Moonshot Initiative, Improve Health Care Research, Treatment, and Outcomes for the American Public |
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| Recently, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), an agency within HHS, announced a series of research projects totaling over $330 million that will support biomedical health breakthroughs aimed at improving health solutions and health care for the American public.
Read the full press release from HHS. |
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| Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Invests Nearly $90 Million to Address Maternal Health Crisis |
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“At the Health Resources and Services Administration, we are laser-focused on reversing this crisis by expanding access to maternal care, growing the maternal care workforce, supporting moms experiencing maternal depression, and addressing the important social supports that are vital to safe pregnancies” said HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson. “We know it will take a sustained approach to reduce and eliminate maternal health disparities and we are committed to this work.”
Read the full press release from HRSA. |
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| CDC Office of Readiness and Response (ORR) Awards Contracts to Facilitate Regional Public Health Preparedness Efforts |
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In September, CDC ORR awarded eight contracts totaling $7,312,924 to prepare for the establishment of a national network of regional Centers for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response. In the near future, contractors plan to contact PHEP directors in the seven awarded regions to seek representatives to serve on regional coordinating groups. The coordinating groups will work with contractors to develop five-year regional public health emergency preparedness and response work plans.
Questions regarding the regional network can be directed to ORROAR@cdc.gov.
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| CDC Announces Funding for Outbreak Response and Disease Modeling National Network |
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CDC’s Center for Forecasting and Analytics (CFA) has released 13 funding awards to establish a first-of-its-kind national
Outbreak Analytics and Disease Modeling Network. The awards, totaling $262.5 million in funding over a five-year period, will support state and local decision-makers in developing and implementing new tools to detect, respond to, and mitigate public health emergencies more effectively. The program will support building and scaling needed capabilities best suited for their respective jurisdictions, based on the latest available information.
Read the full press release from the CDC. |
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| Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) Releases New Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) to Speed Medical Countermeasure Development |
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The new BAA, BARDA BAA-23-100-SOL-00004
, is designed to enable BARDA to improve efficiency and responsiveness for advanced research and development proposal submissions and decrease time to award. The new BAA reflects a modernized process to meet the demands of an expanding mission and a growing portfolio of industry partners. Changes to this BAA reflect experience and growth of the acquisition vehicle and the need for BARDA to more quickly pivot and respond during a pandemic or other public health emergency.
Read the full press release from BARDA.
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| Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Requests Public Input on Coverage of Over-the-Counter Preventive Services, Including Contraception, Tobacco, Cessation, and Breastfeeding Supplies
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| This new Request for Information (RFI) solicits comment on access to a range of over-the-counter items recommended by experts for preventive care that can be purchased without a prescription, including contraceptives, tobacco smoking cessation products, folic acid during pregnancy, and breastfeeding supplies.
Read the full press release from CMS. |
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| CMS Statement on Current Status of Blood Tests for Organ Transplant Rejection |
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CMS confirms that neither CMS nor the Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) have made changes that affect patients’ ability to have blood tests used to monitor for organ transplantation rejection covered when ordered by their physicians in medically appropriate circumstances. Patients with transplanted hearts, lungs, or kidneys who meet the coverage criteria for these tests, as laid out in the Local Coverage Determination (LCD), can continue to access these tests in place of a more invasive biopsy.
Read the full press release from CMS. |
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| In the Lead Up to Prevention Month, the Biden-Harris Administration Awards $42.6 Million to Expand and Strengthen the Capacity of States and Local Community Prevention Providers to Implement Evidence-Based Prevention Strategies
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"The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to strengthening prevention programs, policies, and practices. That includes developing and delivering community-based prevention services," said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. "Youth Substance Use Prevention Month and Substance Misuse Prevention Month help remind us that there are many Americans struggling with substance use - and they need our support. Our message to them: you aren't alone - we have your back."
Read the full press release from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
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| FDA Launches Pilot Program to Help Further Accelerate Development of Rare Disease Therapies |
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“We hope the insight gained from this pilot will provide information on how best to facilitate more efficient development of potentially life-saving therapies with rare disease indications and help sponsors generate high-quality, compelling data to support a future marketing application,” said Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. “These are complex products and we recognize the importance of sponsor communication with the FDA to facilitate development of products for patients with unmet medical needs.”
Read the full press release from the FDA. |
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| Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) National Test 2023 |
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The test will reach millions of mobile phones across the country via Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), radio and television via the
Emergency Alert System (EAS), and other communication pathways.
Test will take place at approximately 2:20 PM ET on Wednesday, October 4, 2023.
Backup testing date is Oct. 11.
Read the full press release from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). |
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| American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Issues Guidance on Disclosing Diagnosis and Prognosis with a Child Who is Seriously Ill |
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“Research has shown that even very young children with serious illness know much more about their illness than adults often believe,” said Sara Taub, MD, MBE, FAAP, co-author of the clinical report. “Without disclosure, as children hear the conversations around them, they glean partial information and may weave together stories that are more frightening than reality.”
Read the full press release from the AAP.
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National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO) Releases New National Study Illustrating Need for Systematic Reinvestment in Local Public Health Preparedness - Recurring and Emerging Threats Will Continue to Test Local Capacity to Respond |
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The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted systemic public health workforce issues that existed even before the pandemic, according to a new report
from the NACCHO, which represents the nation’s nearly 3,000 local health departments. The study reveals opportunities for strengthening the local public health preparedness workforce to support proactive readiness for emerging and recurring threats, in addition to ongoing equitable community recovery efforts post-pandemic.
Read the full press release from NACCHO. |
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| Register now for the National Healthcare Coalition Preparedness Conference (NHCPC), November 28-30 in Las Vegas |
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Registration for the NHCPC is now open! The Conference will take place from November 28 to 30 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Professionals in emergency management, health care coalitions, volunteer organizations and all levels of government (federal, state, and local) will benefit from advancing their individual and collective skill sets by participating in over 40 sessions of content, sharing best practices, building partnerships, and interacting with the latest technology and industry thought leaders in the Exhibit Hall.
Register for the NHCPC. You can also preview the conference agenda online. |
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| Additional Tools, Resources, and Reports |
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| CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) |
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We Want to Hear from You!
ASPR wants to hear how your organization and/or sub-recipients are making an impact in your communities. We will use your stories to demonstrate the importance of investing in emergency preparedness and response in some of our policy and budgetary documents.
Share your organization's experience in emergency preparedness, response, or recovery by answering a few questions on our Story From the Field Submission Form.
Our team will contact you for more information, as needed, and you may see your story published on the Health Care Readiness in Action: Stories from the Field webpage. Thank you in advance for sharing! |
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Note: ASPR provides the above sources of information for the convenience of the ASPR Health Care Readiness community and is not responsible for the availability or content of the information or tools provided, nor does ASPR endorse, warrant or guarantee the products, services or information described or offered. It is the responsibility of the user to determine the usefulness and applicability of the information provided. |
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