Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.[2][3]
"CDC" redirects here. For other uses, see CDC (disambiguation).Agency overview
July 1, 1946
- Office of National Defense Malaria Control Activities (1942)
- Office of Malaria Control in War Areas (1942–46)
- Communicable Disease Center (1946–67)
- National Communicable Disease Center (1967–70)
- Center for Disease Control (1970–80)
- Centers for Disease Control (1980–92)
10,899 (2015)[1]
US$11.1 billion (FY18)
- Mandy Cohen, Director
- Nirav D. Shah, Principal Deputy Director
The agency's main goal is the protection of public health and safety through the control and prevention of disease, injury, and disability in the US and worldwide.[4] The CDC focuses national attention on developing and applying disease control and prevention. It especially focuses its attention on infectious disease, food borne pathogens, environmental health, occupational safety and health, health promotion, injury prevention, and educational activities designed to improve the health of United States citizens. The CDC also conducts research and provides information on non-infectious diseases, such as obesity and diabetes, and is a founding member of the International Association of National Public Health Institutes.[5]
The CDC's current Director is Mandy Cohen who assumed office on July 10, 2023.[6]
Budget[edit]
CDC's budget for fiscal year 2018 was $11.9 billion;[39] this decreased to $11.09 billion for fiscal year 2019.[40] The CDC offers grants to help organizations advance health, safety and awareness at the community level in the United States. The CDC awards over 85 percent of its annual budget through these grants.[41]
Controversies[edit]
Tuskegee study of untreated syphilis in Black men[edit]
For 15 years, the CDC had direct oversight over the Tuskegee syphilis experiment.[96] In the study, which lasted from 1932 to 1972, a group of Black men (nearly 400 of whom had syphilis) were studied to learn more about the disease. The disease was left untreated in the men, who had not given their informed consent to serve as research subjects. The Tuskegee Study was initiated in 1932 by the Public Health Service, with the CDC taking over the Tuskegee Health Benefit Program in 1995.[96]
Gun control[edit]
An area of partisan dispute related to CDC funding is studying firearms effectiveness. Although the CDC was one of the first government agencies to study gun related data, in 1996 the Dickey Amendment, passed with the support of the National Rifle Association of America, states "none of the funds available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control".[97] Advocates for gun control oppose the amendment and have tried to overturn it.[98]
Looking at the history of the passage of the Dickey Amendment, in 1992, Mark L. Rosenberg and five CDC colleagues founded the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, with an annual budget of approximately $260,000. They focused on "identifying causes of firearm deaths, and methods to prevent them".[99] Their first report, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1993 entitled "Guns are a Risk Factor for Homicide in the Home", reported "mere presence of a gun in a home increased the risk of a firearm-related death by 2.7 percent, and suicide fivefold—a "huge" increase."[99] In response, the NRA launched a "campaign to shut down the Injury Center." Two conservative pro-gun groups, Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership and Doctors for Integrity and Policy Research joined the pro-gun effort, and, by 1995, politicians also supported the pro-gun initiative. In 1996, Jay Dickey (R) Arkansas introduced the Dickey Amendment statement stating "none of the funds available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control" as a rider.[97] in the 1996 appropriations bill."[99] In 1997, "Congress re-directed all of the money for gun research to the study of traumatic brain injury."[99] David Satcher, CDC head 1993-98[100] advocated for firearms research.[99] In 2016 over a dozen "public health insiders, including current and former CDC senior leaders" told The Trace interviewers that CDC senior leaders took a cautious stance in their interpretation of the Dickey Amendment and that they could do more but were afraid of political and personal retribution.[99]
In 2013, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics sent a letter to the leaders of the Senate Appropriations Committee asking them "to support at least $10 million within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in FY 2014 along with sufficient new taxes at the National Institutes of Health to support research into the causes and prevention of violence. Furthermore, we urge Members to oppose any efforts to reduce, eliminate, or condition CDC funding related to violence prevention research."[101] Congress maintained the ban in subsequent budgets.[98]
Popular culture[edit]
Zombie Apocalypse campaign[edit]
On May 16, 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's blog published an article instructing the public on what to do to prepare for a zombie invasion. While the article did not claim that such a scenario was possible, it did use the popular culture appeal as a means of urging citizens to prepare for all potential hazards, such as earthquakes, tornadoes, and floods.[148]
According to David Daigle, the associate director for Communications, Public Health Preparedness and Response, the idea arose when his team was discussing their upcoming hurricane-information campaign and Daigle mused that "we say pretty much the same things every year, in the same way, and I just wonder how many people are paying attention." A social-media employee mentioned that the subject of zombies had come up a lot on Twitter when she had been tweeting about the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and radiation. The team realized that a campaign like this would most likely reach a different audience from the one that normally pays attention to hurricane-preparedness warnings and went to work on the zombie campaign, launching it right before hurricane season began. "The whole idea was, if you're prepared for a zombie apocalypse, you're prepared for pretty much anything," said Daigle.[149]
Once the blog article was posted, the CDC announced an open contest for YouTube submissions of the most creative and effective videos covering preparedness for a zombie apocalypse (or apocalypse of any kind), to be judged by the "CDC Zombie Task Force". Submissions were open until October 11, 2011.[150] They also released a zombie-themed graphic novella available on their website.[151] Zombie-themed educational materials for teachers are available on the site.[152]