(RALEIGH)  --  Following 9/11, emergency preparedness was one of the primary concerns in the United States. But Rich Hamburg, deputy director of Trust for America's Health, says critical emergency program are at risk of elimination because of a lack of funding.

"The economic crisis over the last several years has begun to change the story, and a decade's worth of progress is beginning to erode in front of our eyes."

Hamburg says the program cuts could hurt the ability to detect and respond to crises.

"We all know that when a public health emergency happens, whether it's an outbreak an act of bio-terrorism or a wheather emergency ... the dollars will flow. But, just like anything else, that's after the fact."

Federal funds for state and local preparedness have declined by 27 percent from 2005 to 2011, and North Carolina is feeling the pinch, according to a report released by Trust for America's Health. Deputy director Rich Hamburg says a report by Doctor Jeffrey Engel, of the North Carolina Division of Public Health, explains how the Tar Heel state can utilize surveillance in order to be better prepared.

"To quote [Dr. Jeffrey Englel] in the report, 'we're now on the cusp of modernization of our state and federal public health surveillance system ... over the last 60 years, the Centers for Disease Control and state and local health departments have made these major improvements.'"

Hamburg says states like North Carolina need to put more money into programs for surveillance.

"We definitely need to make sure we have laboratory and bio-surveillance programs ... standard nuts'n'bolts programs in place and publicly funded in places like North Carolina."

The trust says President Barack Obama's proposed 2012 budget represents another 72-million dollars in cuts. Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia cut state public health funds in 2011.