The position ofAssistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR)within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) was formally established by thePandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA)of 2006. This landmark legislation was enacted in response to the lessons learned from the 2004 flu vaccine shortage and the catastrophic response to Hurricane Katrina. The goal was to centralize the leadership for public health and medical preparedness and response within a single federal office.

The ASPR (now known as theAdministration for Strategic Preparedness and Response) serves as the Secretary’s principal advisor on all matters related to Federal public health and medical preparedness and response for "all-hazard" events. This includes managing theNational Disaster Medical System (NDMS)and overseeing theStrategic National Stockpile (SNS)of medicines and medical supplies. Before PAHPA, these responsibilities were fragmented across various agencies, leading to coordination gaps during national crises.

For aCertified Emergency and Disaster Professional (CEDP), PAHPA is a foundational legal document because it also created theBiomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which funds the development of medical countermeasures against CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear) threats. PAHPA mandates that the ASPR coordinate with state and local health departments through theHospital Preparedness Program (HPP), providing the funding and standards that hospitals must meet to manage a surge of patients during a pandemic or mass casualty event. This legislative shift ensured that public health was integrated into the broader national security framework, treating a virus or a dirty bomb as a threat equal to conventional warfare.