Defend CDC Funding and Programs

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the nation’s preeminent disease prevention agency, faces numerous dire threats from the Trump administration. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has dramatically reduced the CDC workforce by over 3,000 people and eliminated $11 billion in state health department funding for disease outbreak prevention. HHS has also announced a massive reorganization that moves key components of CDC to other agencies, eliminates whole divisions, and moves programs with no understandable rationale or programmatic review. Now, Congress is working to finalize a budget that could cut CDC funding in half. Collectively, these reckless and capricious actions threaten the CDC at a time when we should be strengthening the agency’s ability to protect Americans and respond to current and future threats.

CDC’s work saves lives and prevents illness daily by monitoring and responding to disease threats, ensuring the safety of our food and water, and reducing rates of chronic disease and injury. Further, CDC’s prevention programs provide an extraordinary return on investment. For example, every dollar invested in flu vaccines for seniors returns $60 in healthcare costs. Legislators must condemn attacks on the CDC and demand a budget that preserves essential funding to protect Americans’ health and wellbeing.

Issue brief and script courtesy of Defend Public Health