**GAO-05-308**                      Published: Jun 10, 2005. Publicly Released: Jul 11, 2005.                  

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## Highlights

It has been almost 4 years since the anthrax events of October 2001 highlighted the weaknesses in our nation's public health infrastructure. Since that time, emerging infectious diseases have appeared--such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and human monkeypox--that have made our readiness for public health emergencies even more critical. Information technology (IT) is central to strengthening the public health infrastructure through the implementation of systems to aid in the detection, preparation for, and response to bioterrorism and other public health emergencies. Congress asked us to review the current status of major federal IT initiatives aimed at strengthening the ability of government at all levels to respond to public health emergencies. Specifically, our objectives were to assess the progress of major federal IT initiatives designed to strengthen the effectiveness of the public health infrastructure and describe the key IT challenges facing federal agencies responsible for improving the public health infrastructure.

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## Topics

Homeland Security

AnthraxBioterrorismDisease detection or diagnosisEmergency preparednessEpidemicsHealth resources utilizationInfectious diseasesInformation technologyInteragency relationsIntergovernmental relationsManagement information systemsMedical information systemsPublic healthPublic health researchStrategic planningSystems analysisSystems designWarning systemsEmerging infectious diseases