Closing Thoughts

As we close the HHS Pandemic Flu blog, I want thank all of you for participating. The passion of respondents was a happy surprise to me. I have come to understand there is an army of well trained and motivated people who understand this issue and the need for a sustained concentrated effort.

This is the first time I have participated in a blog like this one. It has created an appetite for more. Citizens want to hear from their government leaders and there is value in government leaders hearing from citizens.

Educating Americans about the need for individual and family pandemic preparedness is a major part of our mission at HHS. We wanted to bring leaders from health care, business/labor, community and faith-based organizations together but knew a one day meeting wouldn’t be enough so we created a blog to extend the conversation and engage more voices.

Every one of us has a role to play—educating others, thinking about those with fewer resources who may face obstacles to preparedness.

We will provide community leaders with information and resources on pandemic planning to share with others. Also, we will be identifying around ten communities across the country for increased communications and technical support. The purpose is to identify best practices that can be replicated in other communities across the United States.

Thanks again to all the participants and unique perspectives, the commenters for their engagement and the many thousands of visitors from around the world.

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