''More Readers' Questions About Swine Flu''

This week the World Health Organization raised its global threat level to 5, its second highest, and warned nations to prepare for a global flu pandemic. Additional cases of the new swine flu were confirmed not just in North America and Mexico but also in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Peru, Germany, Austria, Spain, Israel, New Zealand and Hong Kong. And, amid some controversy, the swine flu virus got an official but unwieldy new name: A(H1N1).

''Scarce pandemic vaccine to be given in order''

''In the early weeks of a flu pandemic, the first to receive scarce supplies of vaccine will include the military, medical and emergency workers, pregnant women and babies — nearly 23 million people — under a draft federal plan to be outlined Tuesday in Washington.''

Report Finds Major Gaps Exist in U.S. Pediatric Pandemic Preparations

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) issued a new report today, Pandemic Influenza: Warning, Children At-Risk, which finds that children and teens between the ages of 0-19 account for nearly 46 percent of all H5N1 “bird” flu cases and deaths. The report also identifies gaps in U.S. preparedness for treating and caring for children during a possible pandemic flu outbreak.

Four key areas of concern raised in the report include: child-appropriate doses of vaccine and medications; management and treatment of children who become ill; including children in strategies to slow the spread of influenza in communities; and caring for and supervising the health of children if schools and childcare facilities are closed for extended periods of time.

Peer-Reviewed, Online Database Showcases Pandemic Plans

Public health planners have a new tool to help them prepare for one of the most daunting public health emergencies: an influenza pandemic. PandemicPractices.org, launched today by the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota and the Pew Center on the States (PCS), a division of The Pew Charitable Trusts, brings together more than 130 peer-reviewed promising practices from four countries, 22 states and 33 counties. Compiled as a resource to save communities and states time and resources, the database enables public health professionals to learn from each other and to build on their own pandemic plans.

Report Finds U.S. Bioterror, Bird Flu, and Health Disaster Preparedness Inadequate

Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) today released the fourth annual Ready or Not? Protecting the Public’s Health from Disease, Disasters, and Bioterrorism report, which found that five years after the September 11th and anthrax tragedies, emergency health preparedness is still inadequate in America. The Ready or Not? report contains state-by-state health preparedness scores based on 10 key indicators to assess health emergency preparedness capabilities. All 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia were evaluated. Half of states scored six or less on the scale of 10 indicators. Oklahoma scored the highest with 10 out of 10; California, Iowa, Maryland, and New Jersey scored the lowest with four out of 10. States with stronger surge capacity capabilities and immunization programs scored higher in this year’s report, since four of the measures focus on these areas.

If and When the Time Comes

A flu pandemic will affect all sectors of society. Will they be ready to deal with it? The Pandemic Preparedness Initiative helps them plan. It saves time and resources—and quite possibly its work will save lives.

New Initiative Will Help State and Local Health Agencies Prepare for Pandemic Flu

State and local health departments will soon get additional help preparing for a potential pandemic influenza through a partnership announced today between The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota.The project, a complement to the Trusts’ Pandemic Preparedness Initiative launched earlier this year, will identify the most problematic issues state and local agencies may confront in a pandemic, and then, by summer of 2007, collect and widely disseminate innovations and options for addressing them.

''Have we learned our lessons about pandemics?''

If a serious flu pandemic occurs, where you live and how well your community has prepared could mean the difference between life and death.No one can say when a pandemic will begin or how severe it will be, but the SARS outbreak in 2003 showed us how quickly a new disease can spread. The 2004 flu vaccine shortage prompted panic and long lines at clinics, and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina brought home the alarming reality of American citizens stranded at a time of need.

The Pew Charitable Trusts Supports U.S. Pandemic Planning Project

In response to the threat that avian flu could transition into a human pandemic, The Pew Charitable Trusts announced today a $1.5 million investment to ensure that key decision makers at the federal, state and local levels are responsibly developing and executing plans to protect Americans from this or other widespread public health threats.

Considering the Context - Lifecycle of a Social Issue

Few people would equate grantmaking with farming, but the comparison may be apt. Farmers adapt their crop decisions to different variables of soil and climate and develop a keen sense for when their crops are ripe and should be harvested. Like a farmer, a grantmaker must consider conditions, timing and ripeness to be effective.

For a grantmaker, timing and ripeness occur not within a crop’s growth cycle, but within the lifecycle--or development stages--of a social issue. An issue goes through stages set off by events or societal shifts and is carried forward by how groups in society decide to respond. Because issues evolve in a social context that is constantly changing, a grantmaker can more clearly determine how it might address them if it has a framework to understand the lifecycle.