VA and CDC will end thousands of health workers.

The Ministry of Veterans Affairs is expected to reduce 80,000 health workers this year, according to a report by Associated Press. In addition, at least 550 public health workers have already been dismissed by the CDC, which includes the 180s who were rehired after being released last month by the Trump administration. Health and social services have also offered voluntary buyouts so that employees resign from their jobs. Discounts are part of President Trump’s agenda to reduce costs and make the federal government more effective.

You will find below the involuntary consequences which will result from massive layoffs of the Federal Health sector.

Erosion of public confidence in science

With thousands of public health workers who should be laid down, the message to the general public is very clear: these workers are not essential or essential to the well-being of America. When public health experts are rejected, he sends a message that their expertise is not valued, which can therefore lead the public to question the validity of an organization itself, such as the CDC and the VA. The loss of experts of experts weakens the perceived authority of institutions in the eyes of the public.

These workers are essential to protect the health of all Americans. The health system will serve at least 9 million veterans, people who have sacrificed their lives for the freedom of all Americans. In addition, the CDC provides vital information to the general public concerning disease prevention and is essential to help control public health threats such as infectious diseases of diseases. Certain examples in a timely manner include bird flu and measles epidemic in Texas and New Mexico.

Weaken disease surveillance

The reduction of staff specifically of the CDC threatens the ability to monitor and respond to public health threats. CDC employees play a decisive role in identifying and controlling disease epidemics, such as smallpox and covid-19. Without enough CDC staff, our ability to follow vital diseases that represent future threats such as bird flu is at risk.

In the United States, the current respiratory disease monitoring system in the United States is already far from optimal. For example, consider how difficult it is to identify the number of COVVI-19 cases in the last week of your county or your community. This type of information should be transparent to the general public, because it allows informed decisions with regard to public health. The respiratory surveillance system in America lacks centralization and standardization, which should be a momentum to hire more employees.

Prevents the emergence of health leaders

The leaders are not created overnight or in the void. Instead, obtaining health and expertise in public health requires years of service and the application of critical knowledge. Some of the CDC scholarship programs such as the Epidemic intelligence service And the Public Health Partner program aims to provide the expertise necessary to become a leader in disease detection and prevention. Many of these scholarship holders continue their local, state and federal positions which are specifically intended for the creation of diagnostic tests for diseases, control epidemics and communicate effective preventive measures so that all Americans can remain healthy.

With fewer CDC employees, America has fewer workers who can work as public health leaders. The type of training and skills received at the CDC is difficult, if not impossible to receive in another place. Fewer CDC workers mean fewer public health experts to respond to emerging health attacks. America does not lack crises, when you consider how the flu has led to at least 21,000 deathsas well as deaths being already reported from the measles of Texas and the bird flu in Louisiana.

Fewer workers will mean that fewer staff will have the capacity to lead one of the largest health systems in America. AV is a pillar for the health of veterans for over a century. In addition, fewer employees will probably mean a longer waiting time for veterans, delayed or missed diagnoses and healthy health results.

Allows the disinformation to skyrocket

With the boom in social media, disinformation can be propagated at unprecedented levels. In addition, the federal government is not immune to the spread of disinformation. For example, Robert Kennedy Jr., the Secretary of Health and Social Services, focused on the use of steroids and antibiotics to help treat measles rather than vaccines in a recent Fox News interview. Vaccines are the only proven intervention to prevent measles, a dose offering 93% protection against the disease.

With less CDC staff, the agency’s ability to produce public health councils in a timely manner decreases. This creates important shortcomings in public health information, which can be quickly filled by the disinformation of social media and conspiracy theorists. In addition, reduced workforce means less capacity to monitor, identify and thwart false information in a timely manner.

In the light of all the dismissals of health workers, we must all ask ourselves the following question: will these layoffs harm or strengthen our well-being?