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American Public Health Association
133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition
December 10-14, 2005
Philadelphia, PA
APHA 2005
 
5095.0: Wednesday, December 14, 2005 - 12:45 PM

Abstract #111437

Applying SWOT analysis to the influenza vaccine shortage - lessons learned for public health rationing emergencies

Lori Uscher, MSc, PhD Cand1, Daniel Barnett, MD MPH2, Ran D. Balicer, MD MPH3, Jason W. Sapsin, JD, MPH1, Saad Omer, MD, MPH4, Jonathan Links, PhD2, and David Bishai, MDMPHPhD5. (1) Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, Suite 492, Baltimore, MD 21205, 202-577-5083, luscher@jhsph.edu, (2) Center for Public Health Preparedness, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Room WB030, Baltimore, MD 21205, (3) Epidemiology and Health Management, Ben-Gurion University in the Negev, 27 Hagilgal st., Ramat-Gan, 52392, Israel, (4) Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Room 5507, Baltimore, MD 21205, (5) Department of Population and Family Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD 21205

The interruption of the nation's influenza vaccine supply in 2004 generated a cascade of public health responses that were often confusing to the general public and healthcare providers alike. In the process, this unexpected shortage not only highlighted the vulnerability of the nation's influenza vaccine supply, but also underscored the need for a well-defined approach to deal with the medical, legal, and ethical dimensions of supply and demand during an acute public health rationing episode. The complexity of all-hazards public health preparedness requires well-coordinated pre-event planning for dealing with unanticipated resource scarcity. The business world provides insight into methods for achieving this. SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis – a long-established planning tool in the business world – can provide a practical, systematic model for public health decision-makers in dealing with rationing challenges. Here we apply SWOT analysis to an influenza vaccine shortage, to identify lessons learned and target effective solutions for dealing with future public health rationing emergencies.

Learning Objectives:

Keywords: Public Policy,

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

[ Recorded presentation ] Recorded presentation

Creative Approaches to Preventing Infectious Diseases through Vaccinations

The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA