Former employees for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say it’s hard to see a silver lining for the public health agency.
It’s been a year since the Trump administration began mass layoffs at the Atlanta-based agency. Over the past year, about 3,000 workers either left or were laid off from the CDC. Add onto that, policies led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. either eliminated or disrupted the agency’s focus on violence prevention and HIV. Kennedy also made controversial claims about autism and vaccines, all while the nation experienced outbreaks of the measles. HHS has also paused several lab tests and altered dietary guidelines.
“There’s been tremendous damage to certain aspects of the agency,” said Dr. Barbara Marston, a former public health physician with the CDC. “I think the most clear example of that is the work on vaccines and the communication about vaccines.”
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