Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response

Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response
Post	Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response
Body	United States Department of Health and Human Services
Incumbent	Officeholder
Formation	2006
Website	ASPR

Contents

Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response.

Overview

The Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response is a senior official within the United States Department of Health and Human Services responsible for coordinating national responses to public health emergencies and medical countermeasure development, engaging with agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, and the Department of Defense.

The office was created following policy recommendations and legislative action after events like Hurricane Katrina, the September 11 attacks, and the 2001 anthrax attacks amid debates involving actors including the Presidential Commission on the Strategic National Stockpile, members of United States Congress, and administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama leading to statutory authority in the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act.

The position oversees preparedness planning, coordinating strategic stockpiles, medical countermeasure acquisition, and response operations in coordination with entities such as the Strategic National Stockpile, the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, and state-level counterparts including the New York State Department of Health and the California Department of Public Health.

Programs administered include management of the Strategic National Stockpile, initiatives for development with partners like Moderna, Inc., Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, grant programs to states and territories often tied to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services policies, and implementation of legislation such as the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act through collaborations with World Health Organization engagements and interagency exercises modeled on responses to outbreaks like Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa (2014–2016) and pandemics such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The office has played a central role in responses to the H1N1 pandemic, the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa (2014–2016), the Zika virus epidemic, and the COVID-19 pandemic, coordinating logistics with United States Postal Service, deploying medical assets with the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, and managing procurements that involved companies like Thermo Fisher Scientific and Roche while interfacing with governors such as those of New York (state), California, and Texas.

The Assistant Secretary is appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate, often drawing candidates from backgrounds in agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, academia including Johns Hopkins University and Harvard University, and private sector leaders from firms such as McKinsey & Company; confirmation hearings occur before committees including the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and involve testimony related to statutes including the Public Health Service Act.

Category:United States Department of Health and Human Services offices