THE CDC IN ‘PERIL’— A long list of D.C. lawmakers, public health experts and think tanks have lately been offering advice to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the embattled public health agency that has recently embarked on a process of self-reformation. A working group formed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a nonprofit research policy center, released a report Thursday that examines what it calls the CDC’s “moment of peril.” The report, authored by the group's co-chairs, J. Stephen Morrison, senior vice president and director of CSIS’ Global Health Policy Center, and Tom Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins’ Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, outlines steps the CDC can take to turn around what critics say is a declining ability to effectively protect Americans’ health. Krista talked to Inglesby this week about the report, “Building the CDC the Country Needs.” The interview has been edited for length and clarity. You say throughout the report that the CDC has entered a moment of “peril.” What do you mean by that? The peril is that public perceptions of CDC changed a lot over the course of the pandemic. The CDC has always enjoyed public and bipartisan support. If that goes away, then overall political public policy support for the critical mission of CDC is at risk. And the country can’t afford to have a CDC that is anything but strong and fast and scientifically sound. Does the CDC’s current standing among the public and among politicians directly translate into a national security threat? The CDC is the national institution that we rely on to provide guidance in crisis, to provide technical assistance to laboratories, to provide messages to the public about how to reduce their risks of contracting a contagious disease. That’s important in natural epidemics but important in some kind of deliberate biological event. We've seen the connection between pandemics and our national well-being. In a severe pandemic, that crisis can affect our economy. It can affect our educational system. It can affect basic societal functions. How can the agency rehabilitate itself as an independent voice that can give its own advice? It is logical for there to be a lot of organization and connection between the White House and CDC in a crisis because CDC is working in a larger federal family. But it's also very important for CDC to have a clear, scientific independent voice. And I think you've seen more of that in the last six months. I think you saw that during monkeypox. One point you made in the paper was that the CDC needs a greater presence in Washington. Why? You know how Washington works. There’s a lot of interaction between the federal agencies and the White House and OMB. You need to be present in those interactions there. The process is not one and done. The process is always . They do have a Washington office and people in Washington. They do not have the number of senior experienced policymakers that other agencies have in Washington. They have to rely on fewer people on the move from the CDC... It's just a big disadvantage. WELCOME TO FRIDAY PULSE — Doctors in Ukraine removed an unexploded grenade from inside a young soldier’s chest, managing to complete the procedure without setting off the explosive. Incredibly, it’s not the first time unexploded ordnance has been removed during surgery. Send your news and tips to kmahr@politico.com and dpayne@politico.com. Today on our Pulse Check podcast, Ben Leonard talks with Ruth Reader about the impact the end of the Covid-19 public health emergency might have on access to drugs used to treat substance use disorders and mental illnesses.
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