Health security

Cuts In Federal, Public Health Reduces Capabilities To Address Mass Casualty Events

As Western counterterrorism and intelligence officials worry about the increasing potential for an Islamist jihadist group or inspired individual to carry out a chemical, biological or radiological mass casualty attack in the United States, combined federal, state and local public health spending has fallen below pre-recession levels at $75.4 billion in 2013 -- or $239 per person ($218 adjusted for inflation) compared to $241 per person in 2009, according the new Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) report, Investing in America's Health: A State-by-State Look at Public Health Funding and Key Health Facts.