The AAMC joined nearly 350 public health and health organizations on a July 1 letter urging Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar to “affirm the invaluable role of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and resist any efforts that would undermine its mission.”
The letter acknowledges that “CDC, along with the White House, the Department of Health and Human Services, [and] state and local health departments have made some missteps in their response to COVID-19.” It also describes the challenges that the agency and state and local public health officials have faced as a result of years of underfunding and a growing list of public health threats.
The signatories explain that, in addition to learning from mistakes in the current response, “we must work collaboratively to modernize CDC and the entire public health system, while at the same time, ensuring it has the funding and support necessary to do so” after the pandemic.
Reiterating that the CDC “is a scientific organization that functions best as an apolitical agency,” the letter also urges, “We must amplify the unfettered voice of CDC, not stifle it.”
- Washington Highlights