Building Global Epidemiology and Response Capacity with Field Epidemiology Training Programs.

More than ever, competent field epidemiologists are needed worldwide. As known, new, and resurgent communicable diseases increase their global impact, the International Health Regulations and the Global Health Security Agenda call for sufficient field epidemiologic capacity in every country to rapidly detect, respond to, and contain public health emergencies, thereby ensuring global health security. To build this capacity, for >35 years the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has worked with countries around the globe to develop Field Epidemiology Training Programs (FETPs).

Underimmunization in Chicago children who dropped out of WIC.

Background: The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) serves a large proportion of Chicago infants, but some discontinue participation before age 1 year. To determine if children who remained active at WIC immunization-linked sites after their first birthday were more likely to be immunized by ages 19 and 25 months than those who dropped out, a retrospective cohort study was conducted.

Methods: Four Chicago WIC sites that used monthly voucher pick-up were chosen.

Assessing preferences for prevention versus treatment using willingness to pay.

Background: Rising health care costs and limited resources necessitate trade-offs between resources allocated toward prevention and those toward treatment. Information from opinion polls suggests citizens favor spending a higher proportion of all health care dollars on prevention rather than treatment.

Objectives: To assess the policy implications of willingness to pay (WTP) for use in cost-benefit analysis (CBA) as a method for capturing individual preferences for prevention and treatment in the context of resource allocation decisions.