Latest news with #SafeStatesAlliance
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Opinion - The CDC's injury center is saving lives — but for how much longer?
When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data last month showing that drug overdose deaths declined by nearly 27 percent in the U.S. in 2024 compared to 2023, I felt three competing emotions. The first emotion was joy. As the executive director of the Safe States Alliance — a partnership of more than 800 professionals and students dedicated to injury and violence prevention — I work with individuals across the country dedicated to saving lives. Here was proof positive of their impact: the equivalent of 81 American lives saved every day over an entire year. The second emotion was anger. The Trump administration is proposing to eliminate the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, the leading federal agency that helps states and communities prevent deaths from drug overdose and other threats. At a time when the U.S. is experiencing a welcome and long-overdue decline in drug overdose deaths, a decline that public health experts attribute to the very programs the administration seeks to dismantle, this progress is clearly threatened. The third emotion was hope. And for that, I have Hayley Jelinek to thank. Jelinek is a health educator at the Two Rivers Public Health Department in Kearney, Nebraska. From running game show-style medication safety training sessions at senior centers to delivering Narcan to local bars — she once distributed more than 250 boxes of Narcan in 90 minutes — Jelinek works relentlessly to teach people how to prevent and treat drug overdose. Jelinek is a remarkable credit to her profession, but her work is also deeply personal. Four years ago, her son, Ehan, who grappled with mental health and substance misuse issues for more than a decade, died of acute intoxication from tianeptine, an over-the-counter supplement known as 'gas station heroin.' Tianeptine is marketed as a mood enhancer that can improve cognitive function. In reality, it is a dangerous and addictive opioid agonist that can kill on first use. As Jelinek says, 'Not one more kid should have to die from this stuff and not one more mom should have to go through what I've gone through.' The Trump administration should heed these words. For as much as we all celebrate the recent declines, more than 57,000 people in the U.S. still succumbed to drug overdoses last year. We're nowhere near out of the woods yet. But the administration isn't treating this seriously. In testimony before congressional committees the day after the CDC announced the new overdose death data, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who is attempting to fire 20,000 federal workers, claw back billions of dollars from local health departments and stop federal research funding on issues like addiction and substance use — claimed that this 'restructuring' was designed to improve Americans' health. He also suggested that the administration's focus on mental health would compensate for the loss of any overdose prevention programs. He could not be more wrong. And it's why so many organizations are fighting back. Eliminating the CDC's injury center would dismantle the CDC's capacity to address not only the opioid crisis but also a range of other public health issues, from drowning to suicide. For overdose prevention alone, it would result in the loss of approximately $280 million in annual support to 90 health departments and $14 million for tribal overdose prevention efforts. The injury center's Overdose Data to Action program distributes naloxone, improves surveillance and guides state and local responses to the opioid crisis, enabling targeted responses to emerging drug threats. CDC is also the only federal agency working to reduce overdoses with access to laboratory capabilities. It's a comprehensive approach that includes prevention, treatment and harm reduction strategies. If President Trump and Secretary Kennedy have their way, all of that work would be gone. Eliminating the injury center would be akin to pulling firefighters off the scene while the fire is still burning. Any 'savings' would pale in comparison to the lives lost and families destroyed. Ehan was a devoted son, a loving husband and a proud dad to two bonus daughters. He made friends easily and liked to be silly, making up songs at the grocery store and lifting his girls upside down so they could walk on the ceiling of his front porch at home. He bravely dealt with a hard set of health challenges and, at 26, had his whole life in front of him. Jelinek carries him in her heart every day, crisscrossing Kearney and surrounding areas to make sure other parents don't lose their children. If the administration and Congress save the CDC's Injury Center, they would be honoring Ehan and supporting the type of work that Jelinek and so many others do each day. If it is eliminated, more parents will bury more children. The stakes could not be any higher, and the choice could not be any clearer. I urge our leaders to make the right call. Sharon Gilmartin is the executive director of the Safe States Alliance. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
4 days ago
- Health
- The Hill
The CDC's injury center is saving lives — but for how much longer?
When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data last month showing that drug overdose deaths declined by nearly 27 percent in the U.S. in 2024 compared to 2023, I felt three competing emotions. The first emotion was joy. As the executive director of the Safe States Alliance — a partnership of more than 800 professionals and students dedicated to injury and violence prevention — I work with individuals across the country dedicated to saving lives. Here was proof positive of their impact: the equivalent of 81 American lives saved every day over an entire year. The second emotion was anger. The Trump administration is proposing to eliminate the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, the leading federal agency that helps states and communities prevent deaths from drug overdose and other threats. At a time when the U.S. is experiencing a welcome and long-overdue decline in drug overdose deaths, a decline that public health experts attribute to the very programs the administration seeks to dismantle, this progress is clearly threatened. The third emotion was hope. And for that, I have Hayley Jelinek to thank. Jelinek is a health educator at the Two Rivers Public Health Department in Kearney, Nebraska. From running game show-style medication safety training sessions at senior centers to delivering Narcan to local bars — she once distributed more than 250 boxes of Narcan in 90 minutes — Jelinek works relentlessly to teach people how to prevent and treat drug overdose. Jelinek is a remarkable credit to her profession, but her work is also deeply personal. Four years ago, her son, Ehan, who grappled with mental health and substance misuse issues for more than a decade, died of acute intoxication from tianeptine, an over-the-counter supplement known as 'gas station heroin.' Tianeptine is marketed as a mood enhancer that can improve cognitive function. In reality, it is a dangerous and addictive opioid agonist that can kill on first use. As Jelinek says, 'Not one more kid should have to die from this stuff and not one more mom should have to go through what I've gone through.' The Trump administration should heed these words. For as much as we all celebrate the recent declines, more than 57,000 people in the U.S. still succumbed to drug overdoses last year. We're nowhere near out of the woods yet. But the administration isn't treating this seriously. In testimony before congressional committees the day after the CDC announced the new overdose death data, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who is attempting to fire 20,000 federal workers, claw back billions of dollars from local health departments and stop federal research funding on issues like addiction and substance use — claimed that this 'restructuring' was designed to improve Americans' health. He also suggested that the administration's focus on mental health would compensate for the loss of any overdose prevention programs. He could not be more wrong. And it's why so many organizations are fighting back. Eliminating the CDC's injury center would dismantle the CDC's capacity to address not only the opioid crisis but also a range of other public health issues, from drowning to suicide. For overdose prevention alone, it would result in the loss of approximately $280 million in annual support to 90 health departments and $14 million for tribal overdose prevention efforts. The injury center's Overdose Data to Action program distributes naloxone, improves surveillance and guides state and local responses to the opioid crisis, enabling targeted responses to emerging drug threats. CDC is also the only federal agency working to reduce overdoses with access to laboratory capabilities. It's a comprehensive approach that includes prevention, treatment and harm reduction strategies. If President Trump and Secretary Kennedy have their way, all of that work would be gone. Eliminating the injury center would be akin to pulling firefighters off the scene while the fire is still burning. Any 'savings' would pale in comparison to the lives lost and families destroyed. Ehan was a devoted son, a loving husband and a proud dad to two bonus daughters. He made friends easily and liked to be silly, making up songs at the grocery store and lifting his girls upside down so they could walk on the ceiling of his front porch at home. He bravely dealt with a hard set of health challenges and, at 26, had his whole life in front of him. Jelinek carries him in her heart every day, crisscrossing Kearney and surrounding areas to make sure other parents don't lose their children. If the administration and Congress save the CDC's Injury Center, they would be honoring Ehan and supporting the type of work that Jelinek and so many others do each day. If it is eliminated, more parents will bury more children. The stakes could not be any higher, and the choice could not be any clearer. I urge our leaders to make the right call. Sharon Gilmartin is the executive director of the Safe States Alliance.
The Independent
26-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Drowning is most common cause of death among youngest Americans. Trump might have just made that worse
Memorial Day cues the start of beach and pool season in the U.S. and this year it is also setting off warnings over cuts to a key facet of public safety tied to summer water fun. With drowning already the most common cause of death for children aged 1 - 4 years old in the U.S., officials are sounding the alarm after the Trump administration laid off the team responsible for tracking and analyzing the fatal incidents. In April, about a third of the staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 's Injury Center, which included the drowning-prevention unit, lost their jobs. That team also worked with the YMCA and American Red Cross to provide swimming lessons to kids. Now, water safety experts say the loss will mean key data patterns will be missed right at the start of the summer, when more families and children will head to swimming pools, beaches and lakes. 'We're actively pulling away the lifelines and resources that we use to keep our kids safe, and that's really terrifying,' Sharon Gilmartin, executive director of nonprofit Safe States Alliance, told Politico. Drownings will continue to be reported through the agency's National Vital Statistics System, the outlet reports, but there will no longer be a data team to analyze the results. During the pandemic, drowning deaths reached 4,300 compared to around 4,000 in 2019, a startling report last year put out by the agency's drowning-prevention unit found. The report resulted in more media coverage, boosting public awareness about water safety and the risks. 'I can't tell you how many media calls we got after that report was released, because I think it was a shocking number to people, and they wanted to know what's going on,' Amy Hill, an official who works on Chicago's water safety task force, told Politico. 'When the CDC issues a report like that, people pay attention.' The layoffs have also impacted partnerships between the agency and the YMCA and the American Red Cross, who collaborated with the drowning-prevention team on supporting getting at-risk children into swimming lessons, according to the outlet. The Department of Health and Human Services told Politico that the administration was not ending its support for drowning prevention. 'The safety and well-being of all Americans – especially our nation's children – is a top priority for HHS and Secretary Kennedy,' a HHS spokesperson said. 'The Department is strongly committed to preventing tragic and preventable deaths, including those caused by drowning.' Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been questioned by Democrats about other cuts to his department, but so far, he has not been heavily scrutinized for axing the drowning-prevention team. Insiders said that the team had other work in progress that will now go to waste. 'The way that this was done means that there was a lot of taxpayer dollars that were wasted here because there was work already in process,' an anonymous CDC official told Politico. 'We could have done it in a way that did not undermine all of this critical work, especially for something like drowning, that literally nobody else is working on.'
