As a part of a flurry of recent govt orders and directives from the Trump administration, businesses beneath the Division of Well being and Human Companies have been mandated to pause outgoing communications — a transfer that has sparked considerations throughout the general public well being sector.
The pause is anticipated to final by way of Feb.1, in accordance with a memo from Dr. Dorothy Fink, the appearing secretary for the division, and bars any company beneath its jurisdiction from issuing any data — together with rules, steering, social media posts, press launch or grant bulletins — except it has been authorized by a presidential appointee. The federal Division of Well being and Human Companies oversees 10 public well being businesses together with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, the Nationwide Institute of Well being and the Meals and Drug Administration.
For the reason that directive was issued on Jan. 21, the CDC has launched some data, such because the updates to the respiratory virus exercise ranges web page. However different key data, such because the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report — which incorporates essential knowledge on potential public well being threats — hasn’t been revealed since Jan. 16.
Not less than one public well being division within the Bay Space, a area recognized for taking the lead within the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, is already sounding the alarm. Louise Rogers, the chief of San Mateo County Well being since 2015, stated in a press release that the current pause on well being communications “is concerning and does not bode well for local health departments’ collective ability to learn, coordinate and respond to emerging communicable disease problems.”
“We rely on routine communications from the CDC and others to maintain awareness of what steps the federal government and other jurisdictions are taking to address problems and to inform our local and regional work,” she stated. “This information also helps us keep our local health care community and residents informed about the spread of diseases that might impact them.”
The Santa Clara County and Contra Costa County public well being departments each stated they’re nonetheless analyzing the influence the pause may need domestically.
The California Division of Public Well being stated in a press release that they “typically don’t speculate on the potential impacts of a new federal administration,” however are “committed to protecting Californians’ access to the critical services and programs they need.”
“California will continue to work collaboratively with our federal partners to ensure that families in our state are healthy and our communities are vibrant places to live and work,” the assertion stated.
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious illness skilled on the College of California, San Francisco, stated that the pause isn’t uncommon and that everybody ought to “take a deep breath.” However the halt in data — particularly throughout respiratory virus season and at a time when chicken flu is elevating extra considerations — palpably impacts his day-to-day life as a physician.
Final week’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, he stated, was anticipated to have a number of necessary articles on chicken flu that would have higher knowledgeable how he talks together with his sufferers in regards to the threat.
“I rely on all these things in order to work with local health officials or with my hospital system and ultimately with my patients to really think about different risks and adjudicate them as new information comes up,” Dr. Chin-Hong informed The Mercury Information.
Whereas lots can occur in two weeks, the infectious illness skilled stated that it’s “too early to be scared.” But when the pause is prolonged, or if the knowledge popping out of well being businesses appears to be totally different after Feb. 1, that’s when there will probably be extra trigger for concern, he stated.
Throughout these unsure occasions, Dr. Chin-Hong stated that California is likely one of the greatest locations to be for public well being, referencing the first-in-the-nation COVID stay-at-home orders and Gov. Gavin Newsom declaring a state of emergency for chicken flu final month. However California, he notes, can solely be insulated for therefore lengthy.
“If you have different groups of people saying things when you don’t have a unifying federal voice like CDC that leads to a lot of misinformation, particularly on social media, if it isn’t being checked,” he stated.
