Trump Shuts Down CDC Infection Control Committee: Report
The HICPAC's page on the CDC website has also been archived
Industry experts expressed disappointment over the committee's 'ghastly' termination
The Trump government has shut down an advisory committee under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that provided guidance to healthcare facilities to prevent the spread of infections.
The Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) issued national standards for hand-washing, mask-wearing and isolating sick patients that most U.S. hospitals follow.
Four committee members said the CDC delivered the news about Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee's termination to members on Friday. NBC News reported Tuesday, citing four committee members and the CDC's letter notifying the committee about the news.
The HICPAC issued national standards for handwashing, mask-wearing and isolating sick patients that most U.S. hospitals follow. Trump Axes Critical Health Care Committee
According to the letter reviewed by the outlet, the termination aligns with President Donald Trump's government downsizing strategy. He signed an executive order that directed federal agencies to trim down their workforces.
Committee members said they received the termination letter after a virtual meeting Friday, but in reality, the termination already took effect on March 31.
Dr. Anurag Malani, who joined HICPAC in January, said the committee was nearing the completion of new guidelines for airborne pathogens before the team was terminated.
The official page of the Committee has since been archived as of late Sunday. "This page is archived for historical purposes and is no longer being updated," a pop-up states upon clicking the HICPAC link. Experts Blast 'Death' of HICPAC
As news of the committee's termination spread, field experts weighed in on the Trump administration's decision to axe a crucial advisory panel.
Epidemiology expert and health economist Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, called the move "ghastly." He pointed out how important the HICPAC has been for American public health. "The committee is now dead; long live hospital infections," he wrote Sunday.
GHASTLY—Trump administration has shut down CDC's infection control committee HICPAC, which issued guidance about preventing the spread of infections in health care facilities. The Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) crafted national standards for… pic.twitter.com/Mk6QoPq4w4 — Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) May 7, 2025
Days before news broke of the termination notice, MedPage Today reported that "several members" of the committee already received termination letters.
At the time, industry experts expressed concern over the move, including Carol McLay, president of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. She said dismantling HICPAC would result in "more patients having healthcare-associated infections."
Former HICPAC chair Hilary Babcock said the committee's role "is just really crucial" and losing it would have a significant impact on American healthcare.
Trump has yet to address concerns around his administration's cuts on healthcare panels and workforces. The Trump administration is faced with a lawsuit from Democratic attorneys general across 19 states and Washington, D.C. over culling of federal health-related divisions.
Trump's administration also facing several lawsuits over federal funding cuts, including one from elite Harvard University.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
DW
06-08-2025
- DW
US cancels mRNA vaccine contracts worth $500 million – DW – 08/06/2025
The Trump administration is terminating 22 federal contracts for mRNA-based vaccines, questioning the safety of the technology. The US government has decided to halt the funding of 22 projects focused on the development and manufacturing of mRNA-based vaccines that help fight respiratory diseases like COVID-19 and the flu. The decision, announced by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., stemmed from doubts over vaccines' efficacy and marks the latest attempt in a string of efforts that weave vaccine distrust into US health policy. "We reviewed the science, listened to the experts, and acted," Kennedy said in a statement. The health department's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is "terminating 22 mRNA vaccine development investments because the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu," he added. In total, the halted projects are worth "nearly $500 million," the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video In a video that he posted on social media, Kennedy criticized mRNA vaccines, explaining the decision to cancel projects being led by the nation's leading pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer and Moderna, that offer protection against viruses like the flu, COVID-19 and H5N1. "To replace the troubled mRNA programs, we're prioritizing the development of safer, broader vaccine strategies, like whole-virus vaccines and novel platforms that don't collapse when viruses mutate," Kennedy said in the video. "Let me be absolutely clear: HHS supports safe, effective vaccines for every American who wants them," he stressed. The mRNA technology is currently being used for more than infectious disease vaccines, with researchers around the world exploring its use for cancer immunotherapies. In a statement Tuesday, HHS said "other uses of mRNA technology within the department are not impacted by this announcement." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Kennedy has been a longtime vaccine critic. Since his appointment as health secretary, he has overseen the remodeling of US health policy. Kennedy has pulled back recommendations around the COVID-19 shots, fired the panel that makes vaccine recommendations, and refused to offer a vigorous endorsement of vaccinations as a measles outbreak worsened. He has also ordered a sweeping new study on the long-debunked link between vaccines and autism.
Int'l Business Times
06-08-2025
- Int'l Business Times
US Axes MRNA Vaccine Contracts, Casting Safety Doubts
President Donald Trump's administration on Tuesday announced it would terminate 22 federal contracts for mRNA-based vaccines, questioning the safety of a technology credited with helping end the Covid pandemic and saving millions of lives. The announcement, made by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., marks his latest effort to weave vaccine skepticism into the core of US government policy. "We reviewed the science, listened to the experts, and acted," Kennedy said in a statement. The health department's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is "terminating 22 mRNA vaccine development investments because the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu," he added. "We're shifting that funding toward safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate." The changes affect Moderna's mRNA bird flu vaccine -- a move the company itself disclosed in May -- as well as numerous other programs, including "rejection or cancellation of multiple pre-award solicitations" from pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Sanofi. In total, the affected projects are worth "nearly $500 million," the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said. Certain late-stage projects were excluded from the move "to preserve prior taxpayer investment." "Let me be absolutely clear: HHS supports safe, effective vaccines for every American who wants them," Secretary Kennedy said. "That's why we're moving beyond the limitations of mRNA and investing in better solutions." Since taking office, Kennedy, who spent two decades sowing misinformation around immunization, has overseen a major overhaul of US health policy -- firing, for example, a panel of vaccine experts that advise the government and replacing them with his own appointees. In its first meeting, the new panel promptly voted to ban a longstanding vaccine preservative targeted by the anti-vaccine movement, despite its strong safety record. He has also ordered a sweeping new study on the long-debunked link between vaccines and autism. Unlike traditional vaccines, which often use weakened or inactivated forms of the target virus or bacteria, mRNA shots deliver genetic instructions into the host's cells, prompting them to produce a harmless decoy of the pathogen and train the immune system to fight the real thing. Though in development for decades, mRNA vaccines were propelled from lab benches to widespread use through President Trump's Operation Warp Speed -- a public-private partnership led by BARDA that poured billions into companies to accelerate development. The technology's pioneers, Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman, were awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their work contributing "to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times."
DW
31-07-2025
- DW
Can Australia's youth social media ban work? – DW – 07/31/2025
Australia is implementing a social media blackout for children under 16 to arrest a growing mental health crisis. But is a ban the best way to help young digital natives? When Australia's government decided to implement a world-first national youth social media ban, it was pitched as an antidote to a growing mental health crisis. It followed intense debate about the dangers of social media, much articulated in the book, "The Anxious Generation," by Jonathan Haidt. The American social psychologist argues that smartphone-based childhoods and social media is helping to fuel an epidemic of mental illness among teenagers. As the ban was passed in the Australian Parliament in November 2024, one poll revealed overwhelming support among 77% of Australians. The plan to fine TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X, Instagram, and now YouTube, 49.5 million Australian dollars (€27.7 million, $32.3 million) for failing to block young people was supported by 87% of those surveyed. Underage social media users and their parents will not be punished for any violations under the law. Social media companies, including Elon Musk's X, were predictably unimpressed with a ban that many concede will also be difficult to police. "It's entirely likely the ban could see young people pushed to darker corners of the internet where no community guidelines, safety tools, or protections exist," said a TikTok spokesperson when the bill was passed. The Australian social media ban partly seeks to protect young people from the cyberbullying, disinformation and illegal content that has riddled social media platforms. But some experts doubt whether prohibition is an antidote to deteriorating youth mental health. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Marilyn Campbell, a professor in the school of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education at the Queensland University of Technology who writes on cyberbullying, warns that there is little research that actually establishes a "causal" connection between social media and psychological health. "We know that there's a high correlation between the rise of new technologies and the increase in young people's poorer mental health," she said. "But we don't even know why yet." One 2023 study sampling social media use in 72 countries found "no evidence suggesting that the global penetration of social media is associated with widespread psychological harm." Even though populist psychology works like "The Anxious Generation" merely draw a correlation between rising youth anxiety and depression and social media use, they have been heavily hyped in the media, Campbell noted. Building on the popularity of these ideas, the government is now pursuing a "nice, simple solution," she told DW. "You don't have to spend any money on it," she said of the ban. "It's not complicated." Researchers at the University of Queensland note that the limited understanding of social media impacts on young people's mental health means that other influences need to be considered such as rising "social inequity," "climate anxiety" and "gendered violence." Instead of focusing on social media, governments need to "reform the mental health system," Campbell suggested, adding that "many more school counselors and school psychologists" would help. "There's lots of things that they could do but that costs money," she added. "We know that social media is doing social harm, and my Government and this Parliament is prepared to take action to protect young Australians," said Australian Prime Minsiter on Wednesday when announcing that YouTube would be added to the list of banned platforms after initially being left out. But social media can also be positive for young people, said Campbell. Writing for magazine in January, she noted that young people with autism or who are "exploring their sexual and gender identity" can sometimes more easily identify with peers online than in their physical locality. She added that like the prohibition of alcohol in the US, a ban just forces the problem underground. Youth also need to be prepared to live in a "technologically-saturated world," the professor told DW. "We are not doing them any favors by saying, well, you can't be in this world until you're 16." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The Australian ban will not come into effect until this December, however trials are underway to address the complex task of enforcing the social media blackout. Platforms won't be allowed to compel users to provide government-issued ID or digital identification, but need to provide "alternative age assurance methods" to confirm the age of social media account holders. One recent study showed that some 80% of people surveyed are concerned about the accuracy of age assurance technologies, and potential data privacy breaches. Some 77% of German respondents to a 2024 poll also said they would either "fully" or "somewhat" support an Australia-like social media ban. An even higher percentage — 82% — were "absolutely certain" or "somewhat certain" that social media use is in some way bad for children and teenagers. Several US states are also limiting access to social media, including ensuring greater parental guidance over social media usage. For decades now, the US has required tech companies to seek parental consent to access the data of users under 13. Sweden too is looking to ban access to smartphones in schools due to worries about a decline in both mental and physical health. In 2024, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy suggested that warning labels be added to social media platforms akin to warnings on cigarettes and alcohol. This came after a Surgeon General report found some positives with social media use such as "community and connection with others who share identities, abilities and interests," but also "symptoms of depression and anxiety" among adolescents spending 3-plus hours a day on social platforms. Marilyn Campbell reiterated that social media apps should not be banned, but designed to encourage safer interaction with young people. "I think that children need to be educated to live in the digital world," she said.
