Do our state and local health departments have the resources needed to protect us from bioterrorism?
By Marc D. Hiller, DrPH Associate Professor of Health Managment and Policy University of New Hampshire In light of the anthrax exposures and deaths in New York, Washington, D.C., Florida and New Jersey, as well as the reported concerns in New Hampshire following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, I have been reminded of the role that state and local health departments play in dealing with disasters. Public health professionals in those cities have worked diligently to protect their citizens by carrying out basic public health activities that include everything from immunizing rescue workers against tetanus to responding to calls from the public with concerns about asbestos in the air. Even more recently, Americans everywhere have called local health departments to the front lines in Americas war on terrorism and asked for their help in dealing with the threat of anthrax as a biological weapon. Our capacity to deal with this and other such dangers lies in the answer to one question: do our
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