JACKSON, Miss.?— A new report by the nationally renowned organization Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) has placed Mississippi among the top states that are prepared for health emergencies. The 21st annual Ready or Not: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism report was released Thursday, March 14.
The report measures states’ preparedness to respond to a spectrum of health emergencies and to provide ongoing public health services based on nine key indicators. This year’s report placed Mississippi and 20 other states in the high-performance tier, 13 states in the middle-performance tier, and 16 states in the low-performance tier.
“This recognition is a testament to the experience, hard work and commitment we have as a state to prepare for and respond to emergencies,” said Dr. Daniel Edney, Mississippi’s State Health Officer. “We strive to get better every day to protect the health and well-being of all Mississippians, without exception. We, along with communities, health care providers, state agencies and our federal partners must keep our foot on the gas and continue to invest in both people and resources for the challenges we will face down the road.”
A look at Mississippi’s highlights:
- Member of the Nurse Licensure Compact which enables registered and practical nurses to practice in any member state with a single multistate license, eliminating the need for emergency declarations.
- The Mississippi Public Health Laboratory’s plan for a six- to eight-week surge in testing capacity.
- Water Security: A low percentage of the population that used a community water system that failed to meet all applicable health-based standards.
- Led the nation in availability for workers to take Paid Time Off. PTO is a meaningful gauge of public health emergency preparedness for workers to stay home without financial loss, which is key to curbing disease spread.
- Stable public health funding.
- National Accreditation by the Public Health Accreditation Board.
- National Accreditation by the Emergency Management Accreditation Program.
Read the full TFAH report at: https://www.tfah.org/report-details/ready-or-not-2024
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