Report: Va. 48th in receiving federal funds for disease prevention

Virginia hovers near the bottom in a national report released today that ranks federal funding for disease prevention and emergency preparation.

The report, produced by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, ranks Virginia 48th in the nation based on 2008 data.

Virginia received $12.88 a person in funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the 2008 fiscal year for prevention of diseases including diabetes, AIDS, cancer, and sexually transmitted disease, according to the report. The national average was $17.60 a person.

Some CDC funding is based on population or need-based formulas, and some on competitive grants.

In a written statement, Virginia Health Commissioner Karen Remley said the state’s low ranking is partly due to a change in how the funding is calculated. Some CDC funding is going directly to private organizations, which isn’t reflected in state totals, but still goes toward improving the health of Virginians.

“We agree with and welcome the report’s emphasis on three important points – the need to increase funding for public health, the substantial benefit of preventive health behaviors and the highly attractive return on investment that occurs when potential illnesses are avoided,” Remley’s statement reads.

The report also compared state health spending. Virginia spent $41.59 a person, which was better than the national average, ranking the commonwealth 20th in the country.

The report also compared state health statistics. According to the report, Virginia ranks: 

- 9th in the nation in tuberculosis cases in 2007 with 309 cases.

- 11th in the nation in the projected number of Virginians 65 and older with Alzheimer’s disease by 2010.

- 12th in the nation in the percentage of people with asthma in a three-year average from 2005 to 2007, at 13.7 percent of the state’s population.

- 16th in the nation in infant mortality in 2005, at 7.5 deaths per 1,000 births.

- First in the percentage of public health workers who are eligible for retirement within the next five years.  Thirty-one states responded to the survey.

- 37th in the nation in the percentage of adults reporting being physically inactive between 2005 through 2007, at 21.6 percent of the population.

- 39th in the nation on the number of new West Nile Virus cases in humans with one reported in 2008.

- 31st in the nation on the percentage of people with diabetes, in a three-year average from 2005 to 2007.

See the full report at www.healthyamericans.org.

Elizabeth Simpson, (757) 446-2635, elizabeth.simpson@pilotonline.com