Latest news with #JeromeAdams
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Former U.S. surgeon general shares concerns about health disparities
ANDERSON — Former United States Surgeon General Jerome Adams is concerned about the nation's health, particularly in marginalized communities. Adams expressed those some of those concerns Friday during a luncheon sponsored by the Minority Health Coalition of Madison County. He also offered his vision for forging a better way forward when it comes to providing health care services in those areas. 'We're the only rich developed nation on the planet that hasn't figured out how to deliver universal access to health care,' he said. 'One of the things I'm incredibly proud of is that when I was health commissioner of Indiana, we helped expand the Healthy Indiana Plan. 'I'm very worried that that is being reversed right now,' he continued. Adams was appointed the state's health commissioner in 2014 by then-Gov. Mike Pence, and was re-appointed in 2017 by Gov. Eric Holcomb. Adams now serves as executive director of health equity initiatives at Purdue University. He said he aspires to change the way agencies view health care. 'What happens in a hospital or doctor's office is only about 20% of what determines whether or not you're going to be healthy,' he said. 'The other 80% involves things that happen in your community — things like transportation, child care, access to healthy foods, safe spaces to exercise.' Not considering social factors, he said, will result in stagnant health outcomes. He shared a story about his 15-year-old daughter, who like many teenagers, he said, spends a lot of time on her phone. So, he sends her outside for fresh air. 'If you five miles south of where I live, Pendleton Pike, they don't have complete streets,' Adams said. 'There's gangs, she might be accosted. So, a dad tells his 15-year-old daughter to go outside, that's not a good dad. That's criminal child neglect.' He encouraged local agencies, including philanthropic organizations and business groups, to take steps to fill in those gaps. 'We want to make the healthy choice, the easier choice,' he said.
Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
‘We are flying blind': RFK Jr.'s cuts halt data collection on abortion, cancer, HIV and more
The federal teams that count public health problems are disappearing — putting efforts to solve those problems in jeopardy. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s purge of tens of thousands of federal workers has halted efforts to collect data on everything from cancer rates in firefighters to mother-to-baby transmission of HIV and syphilis to outbreaks of drug-resistant gonorrhea to cases of carbon monoxide poisoning. The cuts threaten to obscure the severity of pressing health threats and whether they're getting better or worse, leaving officials clueless on how to respond. They could also make it difficult, if not impossible, to assess the impact of the administration's spending and policies. Both outside experts and impacted employees argue the layoffs will cost the government more money in the long run by eliminating information on whether programs are effective or wasteful, and by allowing preventable problems to fester. 'Surveillance capabilities are crucial for identifying emerging health issues, directing resources efficiently, and evaluating the effectiveness of existing policies,' said Jerome Adams, who served as surgeon general in the first Trump's administration. 'Without robust data and surveillance systems, we cannot accurately assess whether we are truly making America healthier.' The offices that ran the Sickle Cell Data Collection Program, the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System and the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer were scrapped. So were teams that reported how many abortions are performed nationwide, the levels of lead in childrens' blood, alcohol-related deaths, asthma rates, exposures to radon and other dangerous chemicals, how many people with HIV are taking medication to suppress the virus, and how many people who use injectable drugs contract infectious diseases. Despite Kennedy's promise of 'radical transparency' at HHS and his insistence that Americans will make better health choices with access to more data, nine federal employees laid off or put on administrative leave over the last two weeks told POLITICO the cuts mean data won't be collected — or if still collected by states, won't be compiled and made public — on issues that officials across the political spectrum have said are priorities. While data from past years remains available online, future updates are in jeopardy if the cuts are not reversed, they said. Andrew Nixon, an HHS spokesperson, did not dispute the numerous cuts to data collection teams, but said in a statement that 'CDC is actively working to ensure continuity of operations during the reorganization period and remains committed to ensuring critical programs and surveys continue.' Yet every employee POLITICO interviewed who received a 'reduction in force' notice said they were not given an opportunity to hand their data-gathering work to another team or told who, if anyone, would carry it forward. And while some workers are holding out hope of being called back from administrative leave in the coming weeks, none so far have received communication from their managers to that effect. 'There was no plan in place to sunset any of it, or to transfer our expertise over to someone else or to train folks,' said an employee at the CDC's Division of Reproductive Health who was eliminated and was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the impact of the cuts. 'Even if you're folding in some personnel, all of our team's work has essentially been eliminated overnight.' 'We are flying blind' Among the offices shuttered by the layoffs is the CDC's Atlanta-based lab that analyzes samples of sexually transmitted infections from around the country, helping state and local public health workers know where an outbreak is happening, how many people are infected, where it started, and how to stop it from spreading. 'Missing that expertise and that connection between laboratory information and outbreak investigation means we are flying blind,' said Scott Becker, the CEO of the Association of Public Health Laboratories. 'The critical services that they provide to public health labs in the country that are really not replicated anywhere else.' The lab is one of only three in the world, and the only one in the U.S., with the ability to test for emergent strains of 'super gonorrhea' that are impervious to most antibiotics — something the Biden administration deemed an 'urgent public health threat' last year. The layoffs have also stymied work on issues President Donald Trump has personally championed — including halting HIV transmission and improving access to IVF. Despite Trump declaring himself the 'father of fertilization' on the campaign trail and signing an executive order in February directing federal officials to look for ways to make IVF and other assisted reproductive technologies better and more affordable, Kennedy eliminated the six-person team that ran the National ART Surveillance System, a congressionally-mandated project that tracked and publicized the pregnancy success rates of every fertility clinic in the country. 'The data is like consumer protection information for fertility patients,' said one of the workers, granted anonymity for fear of retaliation. 'We were putting any information out there that we could that was helpful for couples that are going to spend tens of thousands of dollars investing in what they hope will end up to be a healthy baby.' The person added that their team was in the middle of compiling the most recent data — from 2023 — when it was put on administrative leave and locked out of emails and offices. As use of IVF has exploded in recent years with few regulations, the team's past reports have helped push the medical community to adopt safer and more effective IVF methods, such as transferring just one embryo at a time instead of several. HIV data cuts pose 'big danger' Data collection on HIV was hit particularly hard by the cuts, according to three officials who received 'reduction in force' notices. The behavioral and clinical surveillance branch of the CDC's office that focuses on HIV was eliminated, leaving the fate of several data gathering projects up in the air. Those include studies on how many people with HIV are receiving adequate treatment, which behaviors put people at highest risk for contracting HIV and which testing and prevention programs are most effective, how many people have undiagnosed HIV, and the links between substance abuse and HIV transmission. 'If you don't understand what are the needs for HIV prevention, then you don't understand what types of services to provide or how to direct those services to reach the greatest number of people,' said an employee of one of the CDC's eliminated HIV branches, granted anonymity to avoid retaliation. 'That's the big danger.' For some projects, state health departments and health care providers will continue to gather data and send it to federal agencies — but there is no one left to compile, analyze and disseminate it. Also scrapped were those who dug into the forces behind the data. While the government will still count how many infants are born with HIV and syphilis, for example, the team investigating those infections has been cut — even as cases of congenital syphilis, a preventable infection that can be lethal if untreated, climb to the highest level in decades. 'We would review cases, interview mothers, and identify local systems issues and failures,' another employee of the Division of HIV Prevention impacted by the RIF told POLITICO. 'Little of that is going to move forward now that we're gone.' 'We've broken that line' CDC teams focused on violence and injury prevention were eliminated, leaving no one to run the Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System, known as WISQARS, and the Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research, known as WONDER. Sharon Gilmartin, the executive director at the nonpartisan nonprofit public health group Safe States Alliance, said state and local officials depend on both databases to suss out where and how Americans are dying, and there is widespread 'anxiety and fear' about that information not being updated going forward. 'It tells us where fatalities are increasing, where there are hot spots that we need to pay attention to, and what efforts are working,' she said. 'It's a misnomer that this is bureaucratic streamlining and we're just getting rid of a bloated workforce. There was a very direct line between the federal workforce and the work in states and communities, and now we've broken that line.' The cuts have also claimed the team at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) that ran the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer. While data from past years are still available online the link for firefighters to submit their own information for the registry leads to an error page. Also halted was a study on firefighters' exposure to carcinogens during electric vehicle fires. 'We cannot collect any additional data,' said Micah Niemeier-Walsh, the vice president of a local union affiliate that represents workers in NIOSH's Cincinnati's office, including those who worked on the firefighter registry. 'This is a congressionally mandated program that Trump himself signed into law in 2018, and we were researching what leads to elevated cancer rates in firefighters and how to reduce them.' And despite a push by conservatives — including the authors of the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 blueprint — for the federal government to gather more data on how many women are getting abortions, where, and with what methods, the CDC's team that has compiled and published that information for the last half century was eliminated. A former member of the team said they were in the middle of crunching the 2023 numbers — the first full year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade — when they received reduction in force notices, leaving that data 'sitting in inboxes and Teams folders' that the laid off staff can no longer access and making it harder to assess the impact of state bans on the procedure. The entire team that ran the CDC's Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, known as PRAMS, was also cut, putting in jeopardy the long running database on the health of new moms and their infants. A CDC epidemiologist who worked on the program, stationed in a state far from the agency's Atlanta headquarters, told POLITICO they were tracking everything from how many new parents put their babies to sleep in ways that raise the risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, how many smoke around their babies, and how many moms suffer from postpartum depression or anxiety. '[These cuts are coming] from a party that claims to be pro-family and pro-life,' the worker said. 'But if you're not getting these data, you don't really know how moms and babies and families are doing during a really important time in their lives.' David Lim contributed to this report.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Slashed Federal Funding Cancels Vaccine Clinics Amid Measles Surge
More than a dozen vaccination clinics were canceled in Pima County, Arizona. So was a media blitz to bring low-income children in Washoe County, Nevada, up to date on their shots. Planned clinics were also scuttled in Texas, Minnesota, and Washington, among other places. Immunization efforts across the country were upended after the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention abruptly canceled $11.4 billion in Covid-related funds for state and local health departments in late March. A federal judge temporarily blocked the cuts last week, but many of the organizations that receive the funds said they must proceed as though they're gone, raising concerns amid a resurgence of measles, a rise in vaccine hesitancy, and growing distrust of public health agencies. 'I'm particularly concerned about the accessibility of vaccines for vulnerable populations,' former U.S. surgeon general Jerome Adams told KFF Health News. Adams served in President Donald Trump's first administration. 'Without high vaccination rates, we are setting those populations and communities up for preventable harm.' The Department of Health and Human Services, which houses the CDC, does not comment on ongoing litigation, spokesperson Vianca Rodriguez Feliciano said. But she sent a statement on the original action, saying that HHS made the cuts because the Covid-19 pandemic is over: 'HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago.' Still, clinics have also used the money to address other preventable diseases such as flu, mpox, and measles. More than 500 cases of measles so far in a Texas outbreak have led to 57 hospitalizations and the deaths of two school-age children. In Pima County, Arizona, officials learned that one of its vaccination programs would have to end early because the federal government took away its remaining $1 million in grant money. The county had to cancel about 20 vaccine events offering Covid and flu shots that it had already scheduled, said Theresa Cullen, director of the county health department. And it isn't able to plan any more, she said. The county is home to Tucson, the second-largest city in Arizona. But it also has sprawling rural areas, including part of the Tohono O'odham Nation, that are far from many health clinics and pharmacies, she said. The county used the federal grant to offer free vaccines in mostly rural areas, usually on the weekends or after usual work hours on weekdays, Cullen said. The programs are held at community organizations, during fairs and other events, or inside buses turned into mobile health clinics. Canceling vaccine-related grants has an impact beyond immunization rates, Cullen said. Vaccination events are also a chance to offer health education, connect people with other resources they may need, and build trust between communities and public health systems, she said. County leaders knew the funding would run out at the end of June, but Cullen said the health department had been in talks with local communities to find a way to continue the events. Now 'we've said, 'Sorry, we had a commitment to you and we're not able to honor it,'' she said. Cullen said the health department won't restart the events even though a judge temporarily blocked the funding cuts. 'The vaccine equity grant is a grant that goes from the CDC to the state to us,' she said. 'The state is who gave us a stop work order.' The full effect of the CDC cuts is not yet clear in many places. California Department of Public Health officials estimated that grant terminations would result in at least $840 million in federal funding losses for its state, including $330 million used for virus monitoring, testing, childhood vaccines, and addressing health disparities. 'We are working to evaluate the impact of these actions,' said California Department of Public Health Director Erica Pan. In Washoe County, Nevada, the surprise cuts in federal funding mean the loss of two contract staffers who set up and advertise vaccination events, including state-mandated back-to-school immunizations for illnesses such as measles. 'Our core team can't be in two places at once,' said Lisa Lottritz, division director for community and clinical health services at Northern Nevada Public Health. She expected to retain the contractors through June, when the grants were scheduled to sunset. The health district scrambled to find money to keep the two workers for a few more weeks. They found enough to pay them only through May. Lottritz immediately canceled a publicity blitz focused on getting children on government insurance up to date on their shots. Vaccine events at the public health clinic will go on, but are 'very scaled back' with fewer staff members, she said. Nurses offering shots out and about at churches, senior centers, and food banks will stop in May, when the money to pay the workers runs out. 'The staff have other responsibilities. They do compliance visits, they're running our clinic, so I won't have the resources to put on events like that,' Lottritz said. The effect of the cancellations will reverberate for a long time, said Chad Kingsley, district health officer for Northern Nevada Public Health, and it might take years for the full scope of decreasing vaccinations to be felt. 'Our society doesn't have a collective knowledge of those diseases and what they did,' he said. Measles is top of mind in Missouri, where a conference on strengthening immunization efforts statewide was abruptly canceled due to the cuts. The Missouri Immunization Coalition, which organized the event for April 24-25, also had to lay off half its staff, according to board president Lynelle Phillips. The coalition, which coordinates immunization advocacy and education across the state, must now find alternative funding to stay open. 'It's just cruel and unthinkably wrong to do this in the midst of a measles resurgence in the country,' Phillips said. Dana Eby, of the health department in New Madrid County, Missouri, had planned to share tips about building trust for vaccines in rural communities at the conference, including using school nurses and the Vaccines for Children program, funded by the CDC. New Madrid has one of the highest childhood vaccination rates in the state, despite being part of the largely rural 'Bootheel' region that is often noted for its poor health outcomes. Over 98% of kindergartners in the county received the vaccine for measles, mumps, and rubella in 2023-24 compared with the state average of about 91%, and rates in some other counties as low as 61%. 'I will say I think measles will be a problem before I retire,' Eby, 42, said. Also slated to speak at the Missouri event was former surgeon general Adams, who said he had planned to emphasize the need for community collaboration and the importance of vaccinations in protecting public health and reducing preventable diseases. He said the timing was especially pertinent given the explosion in measles cases in Texas and the rise in whooping cough cases and deaths in Louisiana. 'We can't make America healthy again by going backwards on our historically high U.S. vaccination rates,' Adams said. 'You can't die from chronic diseases when you're 50 if you've already died from measles or polio or whooping cough when you're 5.' California correspondent Christine Mai-Duc contributed to this article. This article was originally published on KFF Health News, a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and one of the core operating programs at KFF — an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF. The post Slashed Federal Funding Cancels Vaccine Clinics Amid Measles Surge appeared first on Katie Couric Media.
CBS News
25-03-2025
- Health
- CBS News
2 measles cases confirmed in western Pennsylvania
There are confirmed cases of measles on the western side of Pennsylvania. According to multiple reports, the Erie County Department of Health confirmed two cases. The Allegheny County Health Department says there haven't been any reported cases in the Pittsburgh area. County data says since 2016, there have been eight cases in the county. Most were in 2019 when there were seven cases. The other case was in 2018. Medical experts said with lower vaccination rates, we're seeing outbreaks around the country "If we see that community immunity erode, we are seeing an increase in outbreaks," former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams told reporters. If you were born before 1957, you are considered immune. If you were born after 1957, experts recommend you get at least one MMR shot if you've never had the measles or been vaccinated for the disease. The health department says most people born after 1989 probably got two doses, which is 97% effective. Here's where you could be at risk: If you are an adult born between 1963 and 1967, some children were given an inactivated measles vaccine, which is less effective than a live vaccine. If you are not sure, you should get another dose. "Vaccination is a community responsibility. It's not just about individual choice. It's about protecting communities and those around us," Dr. Adams said. Health care workers, university students and international travelers must have two doses to be considered fully vaccinated. All suspected and confirmed cases are reported to the county health department. It said it will make sure anyone sick with the disease stays home until they are no longer infectious.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Former US surgeon general: America is getting a crash course in herd immunity
Dr. Jerome Adams, who served as US surgeon general in the first Trump administration, is a distinguished professor in pharmacy practice and public health at Purdue University. The ongoing measles outbreak has reached three states and serves as a stark reminder of the vital role that herd immunity plays in safeguarding our communities. Originating in Gaines County, Texas, the outbreak has now resulted in 321 reported cases, with 38 hospitalizations and two deaths, including a school-age child who was unvaccinated. The initial epicenter within a Texas Mennonite community highlights how declining vaccination rates can lead to rapid disease transmission. While some may believe that abstaining from vaccination keeps them healthier or more resistant to diseases, the reality is that their 'immunity' has, until now, been borrowed from their vaccinated neighbors. This collective shield, known as herd immunity, is not automatic or enduring; it has been built over decades through high vaccination rates. Unfortunately, this protection is now eroding due to rising vaccine skepticism. Herd immunity works by ensuring that a high enough portion of the population is vaccinated so that highly contagious diseases like measles can't find a vulnerable 'host' to spread to. This strategy protects those who cannot receive vaccines for medical reasons — and even those who refuse them for personal beliefs. However, as vaccine skepticism grows, many who have unwittingly benefited from herd immunity in the past are now at greater risk — ironically, from themselves. A significant driver of current skepticism has been Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the nonprofit organization he led, Children's Health Defense, which has spread vaccine mistrust and misinformation for years. Ironically — or perhaps inevitably — now that Kennedy is secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, he faces the largest measles outbreak in Texas and the first child death from measles in over 20 years. Recently, at President Donald Trump's first Cabinet meeting, Kennedy acknowledged the death but seemed to dismiss the outbreak as 'not unusual,' drawing widespread criticism. Now, as the outbreak spirals, he has reversed course, declaring measles a top HHS priority. In a subsequent Fox News op-ed, Kennedy wrote, 'Measles outbreak is a call to action for all of us,' emphasizing how vaccinations contribute to community immunity. This marked a dramatic shift from his past rhetoric, as he is now being forced to confront the consequences of the very skepticism he helped foster. This moment is critical for both Kennedy and the nation. As I have previously stated, his tenure will not be defined by his work on nutrition or chronic disease (no matter how commendable) but by how he responds to an inexorably increasing number of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks. As Kennedy himself has acknowledged, the resurgence of measles 'must serve as a wake-up call.' The disease was declared eliminated in the US in 2000, thanks to decades of high vaccination rates. But since then, growing vaccine hesitancy, driven in part by disinformation campaigns, has led to declining immunization rates and renewed outbreaks. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that in some communities, childhood vaccination rates have dropped below the 95% threshold needed to maintain herd immunity. The result? Vulnerable populations — including infants, immunocompromised individuals and those who opt out of vaccines — are now at greater risk than ever before. The tragic death of a child should in and of itself be enough to remind us of the serious implications of measles outbreaks. Although it's true, as Kennedy points out, that most individuals who contract measles will not die from it, we also cannot overlook the alarming reality that 1 in 10 confirmed cases during this outbreak has required hospitalization. This statistic underscores the fact that even non-fatal cases can lead to severe health complications, including pneumonia, encephalitis, pregnancy-related issues and potential lifelong health challenges. However, what makes measles particularly dangerous is its extreme contagiousness; many experts describe it as the most contagious virus known. It spreads through airborne particles and can linger in the air for hours. In an unvaccinated community, one infected person can spread measles to up to 90% of those around them. This is why even small declines in vaccination rates can lead to major outbreaks, with hospitalizations and deaths to follow. The Texas situation is proof that when herd immunity erodes, it's not a matter of if, but when, these outbreaks will follow. The challenge for Kennedy is not just responding to this particular outbreak but reversing the tide of vaccine skepticism that has grown, in part, because of his own past activism. A true leader must be willing to acknowledge mistakes — even if unintended — and correct course. If he is serious about tackling measles, Kennedy must take concrete steps to promote vaccine uptake, even in areas and times when there isn't an active outbreak. Such measures include launching aggressive public education campaigns, ensuring vaccine access, and working with state and local officials to restore trust in immunization programs. And like his predecessors, he must consistently and unequivocally state his commitment to vaccines. Ultimately, both Kennedy and much of unvaccinated America are receiving a crash course on the topic of herd immunity. The ability of a minority to remain unvaccinated has always depended on the decisions of a vast majority to protect them. Now, as we confront more outbreaks, one lesson is clear: Community immunity is not just a personal choice, it is a collective responsibility. Kennedy's legacy will be defined not by what he has said in the past but by what he does now. He will be remembered either as the vaccine skeptic who turned vaccine champion or as the man at the helm of HHS when America made measles great again. For the sake of our public health, and our children, we should all hope it's the former, not the latter.
