U.S. Department of Disease Control and Prevention More than 1,000 current and former officials of the elite disease-fighting program at the centers have signed an open letter expressing frustration over the country’s public health response to the Kovid-19 epidemic and calling on the federal agency to do so. To play a more central role.
“The absence of national leadership on Covid-19 is unprecedented and dangerous,” the letter, signed by current and former officials of the CDC’s Epidemiological Intelligence Service, of the investigating investigators. “The CDC should be at the forefront of the successful response to this global public health crisis.”
Signatories include two former CDC directors: Jeffrey Coplan, who headed the agency under President Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and Tom Frieden, who served under President Barack Obama.
During the current epidemic, all signatures were being written to “express our concern about the ominous politicization and silence of the nation’s health protection agency,” his letter, published in a newsletter of epidemiologists on Friday.
The agency said in a response to the letter that the CDC today provided the best available information and recommendations to the American people, as it does every day in its 74-year history. “Since January, more than 200 CDC employees have dedicated themselves to protecting the health of the American people.”
Long regarded as the world’s leading public health agency, the CDC generally plays a leading role globally in epidemic response.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Trump administration has been deeply involved in formulating scientific recommendations at the CDC during the epidemic, raising objections to guidelines on reopening churches and schools and wearing masks. “The CDC (Coronavirus) has a crucial meeting on the task force, which is made up of public health leaders with valuable skills,” an administrative spokesman said.
An atmosphere of trust prevails in the agency, as shown in a recent poll. Former agency officials and other public health professionals have spoken out in defense of the CDC, arguing that the country needs to resume its leading and science-based role in preventing epidemics.
EIS, as it is known, is a two-year fellowship at CDC in which officers develop disease detective chops as they work to prevent Ebola, E. coli. Fights on the front lines against outbreaks like E. coli and other dangerous pathogens.
Charles Rabkin, a medical pathologist at the National Cancer Institute and a member of the 1984 EIS class, said the letter was “an expression of unity in our community.” He said he spent several months approaching every EIS class for nearly seven decades, collecting signatures for the letter.
He said the number of 1,044 current and former EIS officers who signed the letter was 25% which was first class in 1951. This includes current CDC employees who are now working as EIS officers or members of the 1980s class.
Douglas Hamilton, a 1991 EIS class member, said he signed the letter because he was concerned about protecting the CDC’s scientific credibility. “We’ve seen a lot of spinning or rewriting of the CDC recommendations,” said Dr. A.S., who retired from the CDC earlier this year. Hamilton said.
The signatories to the letter were Port Angeles, Wash. The CDC’s recommendations and leadership often help under-resourced state and local health departments to respond more effectively to epidemics, said Janet Ster-Green, a public health consultant at.
A member of the 1984 EIS class, Dr. Steehr-Green said his team of 40 volunteer contact tracers was confused about who to test for Covid-19, after the CDC dialed in August who should test its recommendations, saying people with no symptoms were in contact with a case. No need to test though.
After discussing the matter, the team decided to continue testing, Stehrer-Green said. The CDC later rescheduled the course and now says asymptomatic contacts should be investigated.
Dr. Steher-Green, who works for the CDC, as well as state and local health departments, said: “The CDC has written a book on epidemic preparedness and how to respond. Their skills have been overlooked to the detriment of all of us. “
Write to Betsy McKay at [email protected]
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