Center for Biosecurity convenves meeting on Disease, Disaster, and Democracy: The Public's Stake in Health Emergency Planning

Date:

On May 23, 2006, the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center convened a day-long conference on "Disease, Disaster, and Democracy: The Public's Stake in Health Emergency Planning." The purpose of this meeting was: "to advise leaders in government, public health, and disaster management on the feasibility and benefits of actively engaging citizens in planning for large-scale health emergencies, in anticipation of (1) the ethical dilemmas posed by scarce life-saving medical resources and (2) the logistical difficulties of protecting the well and caring for the sick in large numbers." START was a co-convener of this meeting, organized by START investigator Monica Schoch-Spana. Additional information about this meeting is available through the Center for Biosecurity's website. Audio files of presentations made at the meeting are also available at this site.