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Project Title:
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Effectiveness of National Biosurveillance Systems: BioWatch and the Public Health System
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PIN:
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HSPX-H-08-03-A
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Major Unit:
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Institute of Medicine
Division on Earth and Life Studies
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Sub Unit:
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Board on Health Sciences Policy
Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology
Board on Life Sciences
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RSO:
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Joellenbeck, Lois
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Subject/Focus Area:
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Chemistry; Conflict and Security issues; Health and Medicine
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Project Scope
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The Institute of Medicine (IOM) and National Research Council (NRC) will evaluate the effectiveness of BioWatch, including a comparison of benefits and costs for Generations 2 and 3; the costs and benefits of an enhanced national surveillance system that relies on US hospitals and the US public health system will also be assessed, and its effectiveness compared to that of the current BioWatch approach. The evaluation will include examination of the reliability of BioWatch monitoring data and the ability of hospitals and public health officials to respond based on information received from that system. Services under this contract will encompass the evaluation of the effectiveness of both current and enhanced biosurveillance systems to detect biological terrorism or other biothreats to human health, including (1) differing technological generations of BioWatch, (2) current human health-related surveillance systems, including those for zoonotic disease, and (3) describing necessary enhancements to hospital and public health systems based on measures of effectiveness in detecting attacks of bioterrorism or other biothreats. Measures of effectiveness will include the ability of surveillance systems to warn sufficiently to provide effective post-exposure prophylaxis and effective post-infection treatment to affected populations following a bioterrorist attack or other biothreat event.
The IOM and the NRC shall provide expert advisors that reflect expertise in relevant fields, such as biological threat assessments, biological detection systems evaluation, environmental monitoring technologies, biological assays, microbiology, virology, epidemiology, health information technology, the U.S. public health system, hospital operations, local emergency management, public health response, statistical methods, infectious disease modeling, syndromic surveillance, systems engineering, operations research, complex database management and analysis; and economic analysis. The following are specific requirements under this requirement. The IOM/NRC shall provide sufficient staff support to organize meetings, generate reports and manage the contract. The IOM/NRC will:
1. Evaluate the relative merits, and current and potential capabilities of the BioWatch monitoring system (Generation 2 versus Generation 3) to detect bioterrorist attacks and other biothreats via environmental monitoring, with the aim of early warning and pre-infection prophylaxis and expedited response and recovery. The evaluation will consider both BioWatch Generation 2 and Generation 3 equipment, and the relative advantages and disadvantages of each, including their costs and benefits.
2. Describe the characteristics of an "enhanced national surveillance system" that relies on US hospitals and the US public health system.
3. Examine the costs, merits, and capabilities of the current and a potential "enhanced national surveillance system" to provide a basis for a rapid response to bioterrorist attacks or other biothreats, including initiation of pre-infection prophylaxis and expedited response and recovery.
4. Reach a conclusion as to whether the two systems are redundant or complementary, both in current configuration and potential "enhanced" configuration. The analysis shall include a comparison of the effectiveness of the potential "enhanced" national surveillance system with the current and planned BioWatch approach.
5. Prepare an interim report to outline the progress to date on addressing the major issues under consideration by the committee including the types of information that have been collected for assessment and any obstacles to addressing items in the task. The interim report will also provide any conclusions reached by that date.
6. Utilize the results obtained in items 1 through 4 to compile a comprehensive final report of the study. The final report shall include all findings and results concerning the effectiveness of BioWatch. The contractor shall present and brief the final report to OHA senior management prior to its public release in prepublication form and dissemination according to the regular practices of the National Academies. The publication process for the final report will be completed following its public release.
The project is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The approximate start date for the project is June 2, 2008.
The interim report will be issued about mid-way through the project and the final report in prepublication form in June 2009.
Update 1-8-09: The interim report is now expected to be issued in February, 2009 and the final report is expected in Summer 2009.
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Project Duration:
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16 months
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Provide FEEDBACK on this project.
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Contact the Public Access Records Office to make an inquiry, request a list of the public access file materials, or obtain a copy of the materials found in the file.
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