WASHINGTON, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --The expertise of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and all public health agencies is critical to protecting Americans' health during the COVID-19 crisis, said a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar from 347 health and public health organizations released today.

The authoring organizations, including the American Public Health Association, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, Big Cities Health Coalition, National Association of County and City Health Officials and Trust for America's Health, expressed "deep concern" about increasing reports of resistance to evidence-based public health messages and threats to public health leaders and agencies, and called on the Secretary to be an advocate for public health.

At this sentinel moment, during the worst public health emergency in over a century, all of the nation's leaders must resist any efforts that would undermine the critical role of the CDC to respond to the pandemic and must be an advocate for increased investment in public health, said the letter signatories.

"Secretary Azar, we urge you to speak up and amplify the critical role of CDC and that of all public health agencies during this monumental crisis," the letter said.

The public health community's work to respond to the pandemic, via the federal government, including within the CDC, and at the state, local, territorial and tribal levels, has been tireless but has been hamstrung by shrunken programs and inadequate technology; the result of decades of underfunding.

Public health leaders are calling attention to the need for CDC to play a central role as the nation's navigates the COVID-19 pandemic, including:

"CDC is the world's premier public health institution and should be treated as such during this pandemic. It must be appropriately funded and allowed to speak based on the best available science and with an unfettered voice," said John Auerbach, President and CEO of Trust for America's Health.

"When you look at the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, countries that listen to and prioritize public health fare best," said Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the CDC, President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, an initiative of Vital Strategies. "Trying to fight this pandemic without daily, public guidance from the CDC is like fighting with one hand tied behind your back."

"There's no federal agency better suited to lead the response to this unprecedented pandemic. CDC has experts who have studied and helped control coronaviruses and other viral threats for decades, and can help our country emerge from this crisis," said Dr. Julie Gerberding, former director of the CDC, Co-Chair CSIS Commission on Strengthening America's Health Security.

The COVID-19 crisis has also illuminated the ways in which racial inequities impact health. Higher rates of COVID-19 deaths within communities of color illustrate the importance of all of CDC's work, including its focus on chronic disease prevention. It is not possible to effectively meet the needs of the American people if that scope is narrowed.

The letter furthermore calls on Secretary Azar to be an advocate for increased funding for CDC's core budget. While emergency supplemental funding has been critical to begin to address the immediate COVID-19 response needs, robust, sustained, and predictable funding for its full public health mission is essential to sustain its public health activities and to prevent the next emergency. Increasing the federal investment in public health will be particularly important, as state and local government budgets are likely to be severely hampered in the coming fiscal year due to tax revenue losses during the COVID-19 related economic shutdown.

Today's laser focus should be on preventing further deaths and disruptions due to the pandemic and the CDC, as the world's premier public health institution, should be at the helm of that effort, the letter said. Once the pandemic is controlled, the CDC, other federal agencies, state and local leaders and the public health community should collaboratively evaluate their performance and must acknowledge and address shortcomings of the response in order to be better prepared for the next public health emergency.

Signing the letter were:

1,000 Days Academic Health Resource Academy for Eating Disorders Action on Smoking and Health Advocates for Better Children's Diets AES Consulting AFSCME AIDS Alliance for Women, Infants, Children, Youth & Families AIDS United AlohaCare Alzheimer's and Dementia Alliance of WI Alzheimer's Association Alzheimer's Impact Movement (AIM) Alzheimer's of Central Alabama Alzheimer's Orange CountyAmerican Kidney Fund American Lung Association American Medical Women's Association American Organization for Nursing Leadership American Public Health Association American School Health Association American Sexual Health AssociationAmerican Society for Clinical Pathology American Society for Microbiology American Society of Hematology American Society of Pediatric Nephrology American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene American Thoracic Society American University Department of Health Studies APLA Health Arizona Community Health Workers Association Arizona Public Health Association Art & Science of Health Promotion Institute Asian Health Coalition Asian Health ServicesAssociation for Prevention Teaching and Research Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology Association of American Cancer Institutes Association of American Medical Colleges Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO) Association of Food and Drug Officials Association of Immunization Managers Association of Maternal & Child Health ProgramsAssociation of Minority Health Professions Schools Association of Ohio Health Commissioners Association of Population Centers Association of Public Health Laboratories Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health Association of SNAP Nutrition Education Administrators Association of State and Territorial Health Officials Association of State Public Health Nutritionists Autistic Self Advocacy Network Big Cities Health Coalition Bipartisan Policy Center Black AIDS Institute Black Men's Health Initiative Boston Public Health Commission Bristol Health Equity Zone Bronx Health REACH California Coalition for Children's Safety and Health California Immunization Coalition California Pan-Ethnic Health Network California School Nurses Organization Cambridge Public Health Department Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Cancer Council of the Pacific Islands Caring Ambassadors Program Cascade AIDS Project Center for Community Resilience Center for Health and Learning Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers Ceres Community Project ChangeLab Solutions Child Welfare League of America Children's Environmental Health Network Children's Mental Health Network Christian Council of Delmarva City of Houston Health Department City of Milwaukee of Health Department Climate for Health, ecoAmerica Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas Coalition of National Health Education Organizations Cohen Veterans Bioscience Colorado Association of Local Public Health Officials Colorado Public Health Association Colorado Public Health Nursing Leaders Community Access National Network Community Education GroupConnecticut Public Health Association Cooley's Anemia Foundation Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists Counter Tools County Health Executives Association of California Cuyahoga County Board of Health Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Delaware Academy of Medicine Delaware Academy of Medicine / Delaware Public Health Association Delaware Academy of Medicine and the Delaware Public Health Association East Shore District Health Dept. Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy & Action Education Development Center Element Health, Inc. Endocrine Society Enlace Chicago Epilepsy Alliance America Equality California Eta Sigma Gamma Families USA Family Voices Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Information Network FHI 360 FIRST Family Service Center Fletcher Group, Inc. Florida Institute for Health Innovation Florida Public Health Association Foundation for Healthy Generations Galaxy Aviation Corp Gateway Region YMCA George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality Global Alliance for Behavioral Health and Social Justice Global Health Council Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC) Global Healthy Living Foundation Global Liver Institute Grand Traverse County Health Department Green & Healthy Homes Initiative Harm Reduction Michigan Hawaii Public Health Association Hawaii State Dept of Health, Office of Primary Care and Rural HealthHealth by Design Health Care Improvement Foundation Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO) Health Resources in Action Healthcare Foundation Northern Sonoma CountyIndiana Public Health Association Louisiana Community Health Worker Outreach Network Louisiana Public Health Association Lupus and Allied Diseases Association, Inc. Macoupin County Public Health Department Maine Public Health Association March of Dimes MaryCatherine Jones Consulting, LLC Maryland Association of County Health Officers (MACHO)Maryland Office of Minority Health Massachusetts Public Health Association Medicago MEND Foundation Metropolitan Group Michigan Association for Local Public Health MindWise Innovations Minneapolis Health Department NAPHSIS NASTAD National Adult Day Services Association National Association of Chronic Disease DirectorsNational Association of Community Health Workers National Association of County and City Health Officials National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners National Association of School Nurses National Athletic Trainers' Association National Birth Equity CollaborativeNational Center for Disaster Preparedness, Columbia University National Center for Healthy Housing National Coalition for LGBT Health National Coalition for the Homeless National Coalition of STD Directors National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) National Forum for Heart Disease & Stroke Prevention National Hemophilia Foundation National Kidney Foundation National Lipid Association National Medical Association (NMA) National Network of Public Health Institutes National Nurse-Led Care Consortium National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives National REACH Coalition National Safety CouncilNational Viral Hepatitis Roundtable National WIC Association Nebraska Association of Local Health Directors Network for Environmental & economic Responsibility of United Church of Christ Nevada Public Health Organization Nevada Rural Hospital Partners New Jersey Association of County and City Health Officials New Jersey Public Health Association New York State Public Health Association North Carolina Healthcare Foundation Northwest Center for Public Health Practice NYU Grossman School of Medicine NYU School of Global Public Health Ohio Public Health Association Onyx Strategic Consulting LLC Population Association of America Population Health Alliance Prevent Blindness Prevent Child Abuse America Prevention Institute Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association Public Health Advocates Public Health Alliance of Southern California Public Health Foundation Public Health Institute Public Health Law Center Public Health Solutions Puerto Rico Public Health Association Pulmonary Hypertension Association Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness GWU Research!America Residential Eating Disorders Consortium Resolve to Save Lives, an initiative of Vital Strategies Respiratory Health Association Rhode Island Department of Health RiverStone Health Rural Health Association of Tennessee Rural Health Association of Utah Safe Routes Partnership Safe States Alliance Samueli Integrative Health Programs SANIPLAN School-Based Health Alliance SF Hep B Free - Bay Area SHAPE America - Society of Health and Physical Educators Shoals Community Clinic Silver State Equality-Nevada Smoke Free St. Joe Society for Advancement of Violence and Injury Research Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Washington State Association of Local Health Officials Washington State Department of Health Washington State Public Health Association WelCore Health, LLC West Valley Neighborhoods Coalition Whitefoord Winer Family Foundation Wisconsin Public Health Association Women of A Certain Age WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart DiseaseWomen's Resource CenterWoodhull Freedom FoundationXavier University for Population HealthYMCA of the USAZell Community Health Strategies

SOURCE Trust for America's Health

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Nearly 350 public health organizations implore HHS Secretary Azar to support CDC's critical role in the COVID-19 pandemic response - PRNewswire