Public health leaders are calling for an agency-wide review of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in another damning indictment of how they operate.
A 30-page report released by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) calls on the CDC to hire and retain highly qualified staff, transfer information faster and public trust in the agency to build to seek recovery from a severe pandemic.
The controversial agency has had a rough few years, marked by repeated problems during the Covid pandemic. It has been widely criticized for poor or confusing instructions.
Another report released last year found that the leading public health agency was too slow to respond to the virus in early 2020.
A new report from CSIS calls for a complete overhaul of the CDC so it is better prepared for future public health outbreaks like the COVID-19 pandemic (stock photo).
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in August that the agency was being reorganized to focus on prioritizing public health needs and reducing outbreaks, and to de-emphasize the publication of scientific articles on rare diseases (file photo).
In its report, titled “Building the CDC the Country Needs,” CSIS says agency leaders and the federal government must work together to build from the ground up.
“The big picture here is that we all see the need for a realignment of the bureau,” Julie Gerberding, who worked with the CDC director from 2002 to 2009 and is now a CSIS member, told CNN .
“Some of the recovery has to be structural, some of it has to be an activity that only Congress can really manage and that has to do with the structure of the budget, the size and scope of the budget and the flexibility or lack thereof. ‘
She calls on the agency to modernize and improve data systems, both to better present information to the public and to make more accurate forecasts.
The agency has a budget of $12 billion and employs 11,000 people. While a majority of these are based in Atlanta, the CDC has a presence across America.
“I really want to emphasize that there is significant opportunity here at the CDC for advancement, modernization and performance improvement,” she added.
Another obstacle the agency faces, according to CSIS, is that it is based in Atlanta, more than 500 miles from the nation’s capital.
While communication has been simplified in the digital age, experts fear that CDC’s proximity to the center of the federal government creates unnecessary barriers.
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The Washington DC-based think tank says the agency should have more flexibility in how its funds are used so it can respond more quickly to emerging threats.
She also wants GGD to do more to retain qualified staff. This could mean creating more incentives to attract higher skilled employees to the agency and then work to retain them.
This is especially important at the highest level of the CDC, notes CSIS.
Perhaps the most difficult solution is rebuilding the CDC’s public image.
An NBC poll last year found that just 44 percent of Americans and just one in five Republicans trusted the agency on Covid.
Many have lost faith in the agency because of its support for school closures, overriding of public transportation mask orders and its slow response to changes in the pandemic landscape.
This is the second major call for an overhaul of America’s premier public health agency.
In August, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the agency, has told her staff internally that the agency should focus more on public health issues and less on publishing research.
She started her work in early 2021, in the middle of the pandemic.
Experts have said the CDC has been slow to realize how many viruses have entered the U.S. from Europe, recommending people wear masks, saying the virus can be airborne and steadily ramping up testing for new variants.
The decision came as a result of a review Walensky ordered in April after the CDC was heavily criticized for its mixed coverage of the Covid pandemic.
The agency issued confused and confusing recommendations on masking and other mitigation efforts.
Guidance during the pandemic has been “confusing and overwhelming,” according to the CDC briefing document the agency provided to The New York Times.
The review also found that the CDC often takes too long to release data people need to make decisions and that the agency needs to be more transparent about what it does and doesn’t do, a CDC official told Wall. Street Journal said.
There were also staffing shortages, and those tasked with leading the CDC’s Covid team changed after a few months.
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
