The AAMC Dec. 5 joined a community letter to House and Senate leadership encouraging Congress to reauthorize the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA, P.L. 109-417) before Congress adjourns for 2018.
The nearly 30 health care and public health organizations note, “PAHPA is the backbone of our nation’s health security, providing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services with authorities for preparing the healthcare and public health systems for disasters and strengthening the medical countermeasures enterprise. The legislation addresses some gaps we have seen in recent responses, such as the speed of funding for public health emergencies, development and deployment of medical countermeasures for significant threats and preparedness for children in disaster...we remain ready to assist in order to see this legislation enacted into law before the end of the year.”
The Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act (PAHPAI, S. 2852, H.R. 6378), which would reauthorize PAHPA, along with the Hospital Preparedness Program, the Strategic National Stockpile, and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, was passed Sept. 25 by the House and advanced May 23 by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee [see Washington Highlights, May 25].