New York, Feb 12 (IANS): The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has designated the US Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) coordination and leadership of public health emergencies as "high risk" in its report issued late January.

For more than a decade, GAO, an independent, non-partisan agency that works for the US Congress, reported on HHS's lead role in preparing for and responding to public health emergencies, and it has found persistent deficiencies in HHS's execution of this role, according to the report titled "For the Federal Response to Covid-19, Significant Improvements Are Needed in Leadership and Oversight," Xinhua news agency reported.

"These deficiencies have hindered the nation's response to the current Covid-19 pandemic and a variety of past threats, including other infectious diseases, such as the H1N1 influenza pandemic, Zika, and Ebola and extreme weather events, such as hurricanes," said the report.

When federal operations or programs are found to be especially at risk of fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, or in need of transformation, GAO designates them as high risk, and "this designation is meant to identify and help resolve serious weaknesses in areas that involve substantial public resources or provide critical services," according to the report.