The AAMC joined 67 medical, public health, and patient support organizations in a May 23 letter calling on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to take immediate and robust action in response to the ongoing measles outbreak (PDF), which has surpassed 1,000 confirmed cases nationwide.
The letter urged HHS and CDC leadership to issue a strong, unified public message encouraging Americans to receive the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. It also called for the reversal of Reductions in Force, the restoration of rescinded federal funding, and the reinstatement of critical federal infrastructure necessary to support immunization efforts — specifically, the Immunization Services Division Partnership Branch within the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
“Now is the time to have federal leadership provide a strong, unified message encouraging Americans to get vaccinated, and to provide adequate funding and personnel to ensure local, state, and territorial jurisdictions can respond to outbreaks, and receive technical, medical, workforce, and financial support,” the letter stated.