ASPR (Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response) announced the release of the National Health Security Strategy and Implementation Plan (NHSS/IP) 2015-2018 which informs priorities, activities, and resources over the next four years to protect people’s health before, during, and after incidents with health consequences. The strategy provides a call to action for community organizations, academic, businesses, as well as local, state, tribal, and federal agencies, to improve health security.

The NHSS contains five strategic objectives in which federal agencies will focus resources and programs and recommends that non-government organizations, businesses, and state and local agencies do the same between 2015 and 2018.

These strategic objectives are:

• Build and sustain healthy, resilient communities.
• Enhance the national capability to produce and effectively use both medical countermeasures and non-pharmaceutical interventions.
• Ensure comprehensive health situational awareness to support decision-making before incidents and during response and recovery operations.
• Enhance the integration and effectiveness of the public health, healthcare, and emergency management systems.
• Strengthen global health security.

In addition, ASPR released the National Health Security Review (NHSR) 2010-2014, which describes progress that the nation has made—along with its persistent challenges—in strengthening national health security over the past four years.

For more information and to obtain a copy of the NHSS/IP 2015-2018 and NHSR 2010-2014, visit www.phe.gov/nhss or email NHSS@hhs.gov.