CDC’s Health Alert Network (HAN) is CDC’s primary method of sharing cleared information about urgent public health incidents with public information officers; federal, state, territorial, and local public health practitioners; clinicians; and public health laboratories.
CDC’s HAN collaborates with federal, state, territorial, and city/county partners to develop protocols and stakeholder relationships that will ensure a robust interoperable platform for the rapid distribution of public health information. The HAN project is intended to “ensure that each community has rapid and timely access to emergent health information; a cadre of highly-trained professional personnel; and evidence-based practices and procedures for effective public health preparedness, response, and service on a 24/7 basis.”
Currently, HAN is a strong national program, providing vital health information and the infrastructure to support the dissemination of that information at the state and local levels, and beyond. A vast majority of the State-based HAN programs have over 90% of their population covered under the umbrella of HAN. The HAN Messaging System currently directly and indirectly transmits Health Alerts, Advisories, and Updates to over one million recipients. The current system is being phased into the overall PHIN messaging component.[1] CDC’s HAN is a strong national program, providing vital health information and the infrastructure to support dissemination at state and local levels, and beyond. The vast majority of the state-based HAN programs have over 90% of their populations covered under the umbrella of HAN. The HAN messaging system directly and indirectly transmits Health Alerts, Advisories, Updates, and Info Services to over one million recipients.
HAN Message Types
Health Alert: provides vital, time-sensitive information for a specific incident or situation; warrants immediate action or attention by health officials, laboratorians, clinicians, and members of the public; and conveys the highest level of importance.
Health Advisory: provides important information for a specific incident or situation; contains recommendations or actionable items to be performed by public health officials, laboratorians, and/or clinicians; may not require immediate action.
Health Update: provides updated information regarding an incident or situation; unlikely to require immediate action.
Info Service: provides general public health information; unlikely to require immediate action.
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