Kentucky’s readiness to respond to an infectious disease outbreak ranks in the bottom half in the nation according to a new report compiled by Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The report shows Kentucky meets just 3 of 10 key indicators.
“I think it’s good because it helps to highlight strengths and weaknesses,” said Kentucky's Deputy Health Commissioner Dr. Kraig Humbaugh. “On the other hand, I think we have to consider that we can’t really compare year-to-year because last year or the year before, they didn’t have the same metrics. And the other thing is, it may not be representative of the state’s preparedness as a whole.”
Dr. Humbaugh says, in general, Kentucky is prepared to handle an outbreak.
One of the categories in which Kentucky did make the grade was vaccinating young children. Dr. Humbaugh says vaccination is critical for people of all ages.
“We’ve been able to use, as a public health system and as a country, vaccinations to really reduce the risk that children and adults will get these types of severe diseases. So we’re talking about measles and the mumps and whooping cough, but we’re also talking about influenza as well,” said Humbaugh.
The report faulted Kentucky for not maintaining a steady level of funding for public health.
Tennessee met 8 of 10 of the key indicators and was one of the state’s deemed most prepared by the report. Indiana ranked in the middle of the pack.
