The Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program, better known as the PHEP Program, is a five-year cooperative agreement between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state, local, tribal, and territorial public health departments to strengthen public health preparedness capabilities. The program began in 2002 as a response to the September 11 attacks and has since, “saved lives by building and maintaining a nationwide public health emergency management system that enables communities to rapidly respond to public health threats.”

This year, the CDC has tasked the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) to work collaboratively to provide recommendations to the entire PHEP program. The goal will be to develop a comprehensive report that informs the CDC with considerations leading to the anticipated release of the next cooperative agreement in 2024.

As public health continues to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ‘evolution’ of the public health emergency preparedness program will undoubtedly be shaped by the COVID experience. Public health agencies and the CDC will benefit both from lessons learned and new insights into public health preparedness.

To do this, NACCHO and ASTHO plan to collect a wide range of feedback from their members. NACCHO is seeking to engage local and tribal preparedness coordinators that are directly involved with the PHEP program at their local health agencies.

If you are interested in participating, or would like more information, please click here to have your information added to the interest form. The level of expected participation is still currently unknown.

Interested state and territorial preparedness staff can also fill out the interest form, and their information will be forwarded to ASTHO.