Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

CIDRAP- White House budget proposal spells steep cuts for public health

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • CIDRAP- White House budget proposal spells steep cuts for public health

    Source: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-persp...-public-health


    White House budget proposal spells steep cuts for public health
    Filed Under:
    Avian Influenza (Bird Flu); Antimicrobial Stewardship; H7N9 Avian Influenza; Public Health; Zika
    Lisa Schnirring | News Editor | CIDRAP News
    | May 23, 2017

    The Trump Administration today released full details of its proposed budget, which as expected includes steep cuts in public health programs and biomedical research and is being roundly criticized by many of the nation's health groups.
    Members of both parties, however, have called President Trump's "Taxpayer First Budget" dead on arrival. The proposals are for fiscal year 2018, which begins on Oct 1. The full budget follows an initial blueprint that the Trump Administration released in March.
    John Cornyn, R-Tex., said today in a CNN report, "Almost every president's budget proposal that I know of is basically dead on arrival." Also, Republican lawmakers are working on their own budget proposal, which is expected to be released in June.
    Congress recently passed a bipartisan plan to fund the US government though the end of September 2017, which mainly spared infectious disease, research, and preparedness, while reducing support for global health organizations.
    Cuts include preparedness, antimicrobial resistance, research

    The proposed budget includes a $1.2 billion cut to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reflecting a 17% reduction.
    According to a summary from the CDC, some of the areas seeing steep cuts include public health preparedness and response (a $136.3 million decrease), immunization programs, and global health. Nearly $70 million in reductions in spending on emerging and zoonotic infections would eliminate prion disease activities and reduce support for antibiotic resistance initiatives by $22.7 million, which federal officials said would allow the CDC to work with state and local health departments but focus resources on states with demonstrated performance and highest need.
    Allocations for vector-borne disease activities at CDC, however, would increase by $12.5 million, and $7.8 in increased funding for influenza planning and response would help support prevention, expanding lab capacity for states, and monitoring epidemics such as H7N9 in China.
    Details are still becoming clear, but the Trump budget would cut the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget from $31.8 billion to $26 billion and include a provision to slash overhead payments that the NIH pays to universities above direct research costs, Science reported today.
    As expected, the budget would eliminate the Fogarty International Center, a key source of global health research and training.
    Reaction comes fast

    Health advocacy and public health professional groups were quick to slam the proposed budget.
    Perhaps the sharpest assessment came from Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, who stepped down as CDC director in January. In a Twitter post, he said, "Proposed CDC budget: unsafe at any level of enactment. Would increase illness, deaths, risks to Americans, and healthcare costs."
    Trust for America's Health (TFAH), a nonprofit group based in Washington, DC, said the unprecedented and dramatic cut to CDC would have "unparalleled and drastic consequences for our nation's health and would likely lead to staggering increases in our healthcare service costs."
    It added that even with relatively stable fiscal year 2017 funding, the CDC is operating with nearly 700 vacancies and will function with diminished resources once Zika emergency supplemental funding runs out. "In essence, the proposed budget would force CDC to fight epidemics and health threats with both hands tied behind their back while wearing a blindfold."
    The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) today in a statement outlined troublesome cuts that will further cut community resilience, including the ones aimed at emergency preparedness, immunization and respiratory diseases, block grants aimed at chronic diseases, infectious disease programs, and workforce development.
    Meanwhile, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) today called the 17% cut to CDC "alarming," saying that a $64.9 million cut in funding for the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases would render vital programs unsustainable, including the Antibiotic Resistance Solutions Initiative, the National Healthcare Safety Network, and the Advanced Molecular Detection Initiative.
    The CDC and other government agencies have critical roles to play in addressing the antibiotic resistance threat, SHEA said. "There is tremendous risk in losing momentum by reducing investments to these agencies' groundbreaking work."
    See also:
    CDC FY 2018 budget justification estimates
    May 23 TFAH statement
    May 23 NACCHO statement
    May 23 SHEA statement
    May 23 Science report
    May 23 CNN report



Working...
X