J Korean Med Assoc.  2017 Apr;60(4):300-305. 10.5124/jkma.2017.60.4.300.

Role of the local government in infectious disease-related public health emergency preparedness and response

• Cho SI

• KMID: 2378213
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5124/jkma.2017.60.4.300

Abstract

In public health emergency arising from an infectious disease epidemic, the local government is responsible for protecting the community residents by containing the spread of the disease. Such role requires close collaboration with the central government and health care institutions. Preparedness capabilities of the local government include biosurveillance, community resilience, countermeasures and mitigation, incident management, information management, and surge management. During the epidemic of Middle East respiratory syndrome in Korea, local governments exercised great efforts in contact management, patient identification, and patient management. Korea Ministry of Health and Welfare is promoting for the local governments to prepare the infectious disease emergency preparedness plan by providing a common framework. Community preparedness involves the roles of health care institutions in order to protect the residents' health. Hospitals and primary care clinics need to maintain sufficient levels of preparedness to secure safe environment and to provide sustainable service during the emergency situations.

Keyword

Local government; Public health; Emergencies

MeSH Terms

Biosurveillance
Civil Defense*
Communicable Diseases
Cooperative Behavior
Coronavirus Infections
Delivery of Health Care
Emergencies*
Humans
Information Management
Korea
Local Government*
Primary Health Care
Public Health*

Reference

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