Twenty years in the making, the Healthy People 2020 plan states that public health laboratories, in conjunction with clinical, environmental and agricultural laboratories, constitute a national laboratory network that fulfills a critical role in the health of populations and the environment. This role includes such activities and services as laboratory quality assessment and improvement, outbreak investigation, emergency preparedness and response, laboratory-based surveillance, population screening and technology transfer. The national laboratory network also benefits public health by helping to ensure safe water, food and air and by supporting programs such as newborn screening and lead-poisoning prevention.
The plan, which the Department of Health and Human Services released in 2000, focuses on, among other things, public health infrastructure, a major component of which is the public health workforce. To ensure that public health laboratories are assessed as part of that workforce, Healthy People 2020 has set as one of its objectives to increase the proportion of tribal and state public health agencies that provide or ensure comprehensive laboratory services to support essential public health services.
As a member of the Healthy People 2020 Consortium and its predecessor Healthy People 2010, APHL is dedicated to increasing the proportion of state public health agencies that provide or assure comprehensive laboratory services. The association was instrumental in development and approval of Objective 23-13, which provides an unprecedented assessment of public health laboratory workforce capacity. It conducts a biennial survey to collect the data used to assess progress on this objective.
Objective 23-13 reads: “Increase the proportion of Tribal and State public health agencies that provide or assure comprehensive laboratory services to support essential public health services.”
APHL has been coordinating with other stakeholders to create seamless state and national systems for comprehensive laboratory services in support of public health programs. These services are necessary to help face the threats raised by terrorism, emerging infections and natural disasters.
The current economic downturn has required governmental laboratories that perform testing of public health significance to reduce their budgets by approximately $39 million. An estimated 429 laboraory positions have been left unfilled or their incumbents laid off. In 2009, 246 layoffs/unfilled positions are expected. Laboratories have also had to reduce their purchases of needed materials and supplies by an estimated $14 million.
These unfortunate decisions will likely have a significant impact on the ability of laboratories to maintain operations and meet the Healthy People 2020 sub-objectives, or to make improvements. Hopefully, these findings can help demonstrate the areas in which the laboratory is succeeding, while calling attention to areas that need strengthening. They can also be used to secure the necessary laboratory funding to improve public health outcomes. As indicated when the survey was first distributed for completion, the data for your laboratory will only be provided to you. The data submitted to CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) were aggregate data and anonymous.
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