June 4, 2020
RE “Built for This, C.D.C. Shows Flaws in Crisis” (front page, June 3)
To the Editor:
As former Epidemic Intelligence Service officers at the C.D.C. and former members of the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service, we believe that this article, while raising valid points about the C.D.C.’s need for culture change, misses the “elephant in the living room” — the underfunding of public health in the United States.
The C.D.C. is a leading international public health entity, its programs and projects drive health policy, and it responds to outbreaks of public health significance worldwide. Despite all of this, the agency, along with state and local health departments, has been underfunded and neglected for decades. The budget for public health is less than 3 percent the amount of money America spends on its multipayer health care system.
The C.D.C. must be funded appropriately, charged with leading the Covid-19 response and also with addressing the health inequities unmasked by this global pandemic. Additionally, a single-payer health care system would make a significant dent in these inequities, both through direct provision of necessary health care without financial barriers and through availability of much richer data sets from which to analyze health trends and needs.
SARS-CoV-2 has demonstrated the need for major changes in public health and health care services, but without financial support, these changes cannot be made. If the children of the United States are to have a healthy future, our budgets must reflect that priority.
Malini DeSilva
Philip Lederer
Brian Yablon
You really want Medicare for all?
I do
More and more people do. Philip Lederer MD
Katy Stephenson, MD, MPH
@k_stephensonMD
·
10h
Replying to
@PhilipLederer
@ruvandhi
and 9 others
Great piece
@PhilipLederer
. I absolutely agree that decades of underfunding public health has crippled our country and left us unprepared for #COVID19. The CDC was never in a position to be the savior here – not enough staff, no $$, no independence.
Connie Batlevi
@DrConnieBatlevi
·
11h
Replying to
@PhilipLederer
@ruvandhi
and 9 others
Thoughtful piece. American saying “devil in the details” applies of how to make public health funding function in America.
Anthony Cannella, MD, Msc, FACP
@apc_md
·
10h
Replying to
@PhilipLederer
@ruvandhi
and 9 others
Outstanding op-ed piece my friend…I concur with you 100% and support your opinion. This is the whole reason WHY
@CDCgov
even exists…they need a substantial budget and direction to be more involved in DOHs of the states.
What about WHO?