Health

Daily situation updates and maps
16 May 2009 -- As of 07:00 GMT, 16 May 2009, 36 countries have officially reported 8451 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection.

Assessing the severity of an influenza pandemic
11 May 2009 -- The major determinant of the severity of an influenza pandemic is the inherent virulence of the virus. But many other factors influence the overall severity of a pandemic’s impact.

Timeline of influenza A(H1N1) cases
This interactive world map shows the spread of new influenza A(H1N1) cases as they were reported to WHO beginning 26 April 2009. These numbers relate to laboratory confirmed cases and deaths.

President Obama is committed to working with Congress to pass comprehensive health reform this year in order to control rising health care costs, guarantee choice of doctor, and assure high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans.  The Administration believes that comprehensive health reform should:

• Reduce long-term growth of health care costs for businesses and government
• Protect families from bankruptcy or debt because of health care costs
• Guarantee choice of doctors and health plans
• Invest in prevention and wellness
• Improve patient safety and quality of care
• Assure affordable, quality health coverage for all Americans
• Maintain coverage when you change or lose your job
• End barriers to coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions

The Healthcare and Public Health Sector Critical Infrastructure Protection Program, in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response, leads a unique public and private sector partnership in protecting the essential goods, services, and functions of healthcare and public health that, if destroyed or compromised, would negatively affect the Nation. The National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) provides the framework for the healthcare and public health sector protection, as well as 17 other designated critical infrastructure sectors mandated by the Homeland Security Presidential Directive -7.

What we do:

• Implement the NIPP sector partnership and risk management framework
• Develop protective programs to protective actions to defend against, prepare for, and mitigate the consequences of a terrorist attack or other hazards
• Provide guidance on sector critical infrastructure protection in line with NIPP
• Measure the sector's performance toward sector protection priorities
• Encourage information sharing among all sector partners
• Submit an annual sector plan and an annual sector report.

Key Initiatives

The Critical Infrastructure Program is currently pursing a number of key initiatives centered around critical infrastructure protection, information sharing, research and development, and risk assessment. >> more