An Audit Report on the Department of Health's Implementation of Its Bioterrorism Preparedness Plans
June 2004
Report Number 04-036
Overall Conclusion
The Department of Health (Department) has made substantial progress in implementing bioterrorism preparedness plans specified in its cooperative agreements with two federal agencies that fund its bioterrorism preparedness activities. However, the Department’s contracting and other internal processes did not ensure adequate accountability for how bioterrorism preparedness funds were used. In particular, the Department should improve its processes for contract development and monitoring, as well as for ensuring compliance with all applicable federal requirements. The Department should also correct specific weaknesses related to its Health Alert Network’s (HAN) functionality and security.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Health Resources
and Services Administration (HRSA) awarded approximately $62 million to the
Department in 2002 to be spent through fiscal year 2003. About 64 percent ($24
million) of the Department’s grant expenditures went to subrecipients through
contracts in fiscal year 2003.
Contact the SAO about this report.
Download the Acrobat version of this report. (.pdf) (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
*HTML equivalents for PDF documents are generated utilizing Adobe's PDF Conversion by Simple Form.