What’s going on?
The Trump administration is Avoid our national public health infrastructure in real timePrepare the ground for the next public health crisis. The Ministry of Health and Social Services (HHS), responsible for “protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential social services, in particular for those who are the least able to protect themselves”, should see a reduction in staff from 82,000 to 62,000 (a decrease of almost 25%) as well as major reductions to spend contracts.
Staff reductions come from the induced resignation and early retirement of the “” “Road fork»Initiative set out by the Government Ministry of Efficiency (DOGE), as well as dismissals offered on several divisions, including the Centers for Disease Control (CDC, 2,400 layoffs), Federal Drug Administration (FDA, 3,500), National Health Institutes (NIH, 1,200), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS, 300), and many others.
The Trump administration is emptying American public health infrastructure, reducing HHS staff by 20,000:: Approximate HHS staff reductions by the “Fork in the Road” initiative and division
| Division | Approximate reductions |
|---|---|
| “Fork on the road” | 10,000 |
| Fda | 3,500 |
| CDC | 2,400 |
| Nih | 1,200 |
| Niosh | 875 |
| CMS | 300 |
| Other | 1,725 |
Cutting staff provide critical services that help maintain our public health. The CDC generates the information that US communities need to protect and promote their health, prevent disease and injury and prepare for new threats to health (such as epidemics and pandemics). The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Niosh), a CDC division specifically dedicated to the study of workers’ health and safety, is faced with a Reduction of two -thirds staff. The FDA protects the public by ensuring that medical products, drugs and our food supply are sure to use and consume, as well as providing the public on scientifically based health. NIH is the country’s medical research agency, with divisions that cover cancer, aging, drug addiction and mental health, among many other areas of research. CMS administer Medicare, Medicaid, the health insurance program for children and the health insurance market to beneficiaries.
Why does it happen?
Administration officials like New Hhs Head RFK Jr. and de facto doge Head Elon Musk will argue that these cups in public health infrastructure are intended for Reduce waste and increase efficiency. Public health officials do not agree; The savings proposed are low compared to global government expenses ($ 1.8 billion in reductions proposed compared to a 2025 budget of 1.8 dollars billion) and such drastic staff reductions will only do the agencies to do their work effectively and effectively if they are able to do the work.
There is a better justification to explain why the Trump administration wishes to dismantle our public health establishments: it promotes companies and employers of workers and the public. This complies with the previous Trump administration at the service of companies on workers through the Tax on tax reductions and jobs And with the current Trump administration Hostility to workers’ rights. A way to dismantle these institutions will benefit businesses to the detriment of workers’ families by reducing the scope of business responsibility. Institutions such as the FDA help to establish the standards by which companies are authorized to produce and sell goods and services. The confirmed rules and regulations applied by these institutions guarantee that the products that arrive on the market are as safe as possible for public use and impose a significant cost on companies This would prefer to put their products on the market as soon as possible. Despite this, the costs that companies pay in regulatory compliance are by far the advantages of the public to have safe and healthy products. Any government really concerned about efficiency would recognize that it is more effective for companies to pay the costs of compliance with regulatory standards than for the public to face the disease, injuries and deaths due to dangerous products.
In addition to providing public health research, institutions such as NIH and CDC also help companies to account by identifying long -term health trends associated with environmental pollution and the use of products and services that have been deemed toxic. CDC’s concerted efforts to identify the prejudice to public health posed by the use of cigarettes, including its Effects on the disparities in racial healthare an example of how this research can increase industry responsibility and costs. This research would not exist without public funding, and an administration committed to serving the interests of companies to the detriment of the public would finance it. In the end, making research in public health and more difficult surveillance by eliminating our public health infrastructure will allow companies to continue the profits without responsibility towards the public.
Why is it important for public health?
Avoiding these institutions leaves our national public health in a much more precarious position. We are much more vulnerable to the next epidemic or pandemic when we no longer have the capacity for research, measuring and response to public health attacks. When our ability to disseminate critical information on public health – to the effectiveness of vaccinesthe consequences on the health of tobacco abuseand the impact of Environmental pollution on healthAmong other subjects – is restricted, this hinders public ability to make good decisions to promote and preserve their health. When our ability to apply public health regulations is limited, inside and outside the workplace, workers and their families are more at risk of exposure to working conditions, products and dangerous pollution. New obstacles to the administration of key health services will mean that fewer low -income families, children will obtain the services they need. The result will be a less healthy and less productive population.
Why is it important for disparities in racial health?
Research institutions such as CDC and NIH have created dedicated divisions to study the causes and consequences of disparities in racial health. For example, CDCs Office of Health Equity And nih National Institute on Disparities in Minority Health and Health have made progress in the analysis of disparities in racial health and how persistent health gaps can be eliminated. However, the Trump administration eliminates the health equity office, has placed the director of NIMHD on administrative leave and eliminates more CMS minority health office.
The search for these institutions addresses range of factors linked to improving health– including health behavior, the physical and built environment and the health system itself – and served individuals, families and communities. It is thanks to research and funded by institutions like these that we know, for example, the disparate impact that COVID-19 had on black and brown communities throughout the pandemic, due to a combination of their Increased exposure to high contact work This often lacked EPI necessary, as well as the presence of existing chronic health problems, the disease has exacerbated. The targeting of these programs and their research for programs clearly show that the Trump administration underestimates the health of minority populations.
What does this mean economically for workers and their families?
Make our ability to study, prepare and respond to threats to our public health means that the next public health crisis will be worse; More people will be sick and more people will die. It also affects the economy. The economy produces less when workers and their families are sick or injured; they are Less capable of presenting yourself to workeither because of their own state or that of a loved one for which they provide careand are less productive When They will work.
The Covid-19 pandemic sent the economy in a serious economic slowdown, with a peak of massive unemployment And the disturbances of the supply chain that have led to inflation that lasted years. The previous Trump Administration Pandemic not coordinated response Leaded to countless avoidable deaths and unnecessary economic disorders. Fortunately, the congress met with the moment with the expenses to counter the slowdown and the new Biden administration continued this momentum to ensure a relatively rapid recovery compared to our international peers. Extended unemployment insurance, tax credits for workers’ families and anti-paved measures were all tools that Biden administration used to secure the families of workers throughout the pandemic; They resulted in an economy that increased as quickly as possible for those at the bottom of income distribution. The current dismantling of federal institutions by the Trump administration in public health and suggests more broadly that we will not have as many tools to combat the next public health crisis, even less its economic impact.
What should we do about it?
The loss of critical capacity in our public health establishments makes the country more vulnerable to the next public health crisis. The inversion of damage caused by the Trump administration, including rehiring staff and the reopening of divisions and closed programs, will take time. A president and a congress interested in protecting the American people would strengthen our public health infrastructure and invest in research and service to prevent, prepare or mitigate the next public health crisis.
Rather than Disadvantage collective negotiation rights of more than a million federal workersAn administration determined to maintain a healthy nation and the economy would recognize the right of workers to organize itself as essential to improve the health and well-being of the nation and to maintain a robust democracy. The organized work has always been at the forefront of lobbying for the federal protections of workers Like the law on occupational safety and health that established Niosh in 1970. When the FDA was founded at the beginning of the 20th century, it due to outcry About the dangerous and unsanitary conditions of the meat industry – a clear example of democracy at work. Authorizing workers and their families to hold responsible companies is essential to maintain our public health and prevent the next public and economic health crises.
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