The HHS’ effort to bolster regional hubs in the National Special Pathogen System is a step toward strengthening the country’s preparedness to combat infectious disease outbreaks, which has come under frequent criticism.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is headed for a reorganization after being faulted for mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic, while the public health response to the monkeypox outbreak has been faulted as too slow. Before monkeypox and COVID-19, the HHS Office of Inspector General concluded that hospitals were unprepared for the 2014 Ebola outbreak.
