Public health infrastructure workforce and laboratory facilities planning

¶ … public health infrastructure is a necessity for each and every nation. Public health infrastructure is a component of the larger and complex public health system (CDC, 2001,p.5).Public health infrastructure is described by Turnock (2000) as the nerve center of global public health. The objectives of the U.S. public health infrastructure encompasses the rural, urban and tribal population.In this paper, we address whether the workforce, communications and tracking systems, research and evaluation capabilities, planning and laboratory facilities are adequate. Also addressed are the most important needs in shaping and sustaining the infrastructure for dealing with the identified public health problem. The recommended changes are also indicated.

Workforce

A serious public health workforce shortage is currently affecting the global and U.S. public healthcare systems. The nation is facing a shortage of critical healthcare workers like nurses, primary care physicians, behavioral as well as public health professionals. More that 64 million Americans live in areas suffering from primary care health professional shortage (HHS,2012).The United States has close to 50,000 few public health professionals than it did over twenty years ago. This problem is further compounded by the very fact that close to 23% of the current workforce (110,000 public health professionals) are bound to retire in 2012 (ASPH,2012).The workforce shortage is therefore at a point of crisis (Perlino,2006).

Communication and tracking systems

The level of funding of the public healthcare communication and tracking system is wanting. The government has continued to allocate inadequate funds for use in tracking of public health issues. The weakness in the U.S. public health infrastructure was clearly demonstrate sometime in 2001 in the wake of the bioterrorism threat in the form of anthrax-laced mails/letters. The communication among the U.S. federal, state as well as local health care official, safety professionals, politicians and the general public was incomplete, inaccurate, cumbersome and uncoordinated.

Research and evaluation capabilities

The research and evaluation capabilities are also inadequate due to poor funding/funding cuts.