Edical Countermeasures Dispensing

Dispensing Medical Countermeasures for Public Health Emergencies

On March 3-4, 2008, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Catastrophic Events hosted a workshop titled "Medical Countermeasures Dispensing." The overall objective was to discuss a range of solutions to rapidly provide medical countermeasures to protect large numbers of people prior to or during a public health emergency, such as a bioterrorist attack or infectious disease outbreak. The United States is currently unprepared to confront the range of threats it is facing, such as an intentional anthrax release, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), or pandemic influenza, and it must plan aggressively to counteract the threat of these and other future public health emergencies. Countermeasure dispensing must harness all types of imaginative partnerships between public and private institutions, working together in ways tailored to meet individual community needs. This workshop summary highlights the presentations and subsequent discussion that occurred at the workshop.

Medical Countermeasures Dispensing

During public health emergencies such as terrorist attacks or influenza outbreaks, the public health system's ability to save lives could depend on dispensing medical countermeasures such as antibiotics, antiviral medications, and vaccines to a large number of people in a short amount of time. The IOM's Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Catastrophic Events held a workshop on November 18, 2009, to provide an overview of current threats, recent progress made in the public health system for distributing and dispensing countermeasures, and remaining vulnerabilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, Title 3, The President, 2009 Compilation, and Pt. 100-102, Revised as of January 1, 2010