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Overview:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is one of 13 operating divisions of the US Department of Health and Human Services. The CDC leads public health efforts to prevent and control infectious and chronic disease, injuries, workplace hazards, disabilities, and environmental health threats. It is also responsible for producing and distributing health information internationally. While the CDC is globally recognized for its scientific research and epidemiologic investigations, newly emerging issues such as terrorism, environmental threats, and a rapidly aging population continue to challenge its capabilities. Although the CDC is supposed to prevent and control infectious disease, it has been accused of blatantly withholding information regarding such diseases as syphilis, autism and Guillain-Barré Syndrome.

 
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History:

Dr. Joseph W. Mountin founded the original Communicable Disease Center in Atlanta, GA, in 1946. At that time it was a relatively insignificant branch of the Public Health Service. As a successor of Malaria Control in War Areas (MCWA), the agency initially focused on combating malaria by killing mosquitoes with insecticide. The agency started out with a budget under $10 million and less than 400 employees. By about 1949, malaria no longer posed a significant health risk in the U.S.,

 
The CDC moved on to conduct the first investigation of an epidemic of polio in Paulding County, Ohio in 1950. Two years later the first case of rabies in a bat was recognized. In 1957 national guidelines for the influenza vaccine were established. The CDC expanded its work overseas for the first time, in 1958, in order to combat an epidemic of cholera and smallpox in Southeast Asia. In 1964, the first Surgeon General’s report linking smoking to lung cancer was released. It stated that “cigarette smoking is a health hazard of sufficient importance in the United States to warrant appropriate remedial action.” In 1967, the CDC added The Foreign Quarantine Service, one of the oldest and most prestigious units of the Public Health Service, to its organization. In 1969, the first biocontainment lab was built and used in order to to protect scientists while they worked with deadly and infectious pathogens. 
 
In 1976 theCDC investigated two outbreaks of a previously unknown deadly hemorrhagic fever, later known as Ebola, in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Sudan. Global eradication of smallpox was achieved in 1977. In 1980, the CDC helped to recognize the illness associated with tampon use: toxic shock syndrome. The first diagnosis of the fatal disease later known as AIDS was described in the June 5, 1981, issue of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).   In 1984 the CDC studied Vietnam veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange. 
 
In 1994, polio was eliminated from the Americas. Unexplained Anthrax attacks first appeared in 2001: the first victim was a 63-year-old Florida man. He would be the first in a series of domestic terrorism victims of infection by anthrax sent through the mail. Two years later SARS created a big public scare when it was first reported in Asia. CDC provided guidance for surveillance, clinical and laboratory evaluation, and reporting. In 2005, Rubella was also completely eliminated from the United States.

 

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the United States: 50 Years

 

more
What it Does:

The CDC conducts surveillance on a wide range of health threats, from infectious diseases to bioterrorism to environmental hazards. It tries to look ahead to the future epidemics of an infectious disease like SARS or avian flu. Its goal is to prevent such outbreaks through such means as scientific breakthroughs and public education for prevention. It also provides funding for state and local health departments, community based organizations, and academic institutions for a wide array of public health programs and research.

 
10 Sample CDC Programs:
  • The Select Agent Program - Oversees labs that work with select agents (biological agents and toxins that can cause serious harm to humans) to prevent accidental or intentional release of the agents.
  • Controlled an outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Democratic Republic of Congo - As the early reports of the epidemic were inaccurate, which made clinical diagnosis impossible, the CDC scientists were deployed in September 2007 to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to control an outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever.
  • Distributed Basic Care Packages in Uganda - As a collaborative effort of CDC, the Ugandan Ministry of Health and other organizations, Basic Care Packages were distributed to promote health and reduce HIV/AIDS infections in rural Uganda and elsewhere in Africa. Basic Care Packages include two insecticide-treated mosquito nets, water vessel, filter cloth, bleach solution to disinfect water, information on how to obtain HIV family counseling, HIV testing services, cotrimoxazole, educational materials on how to use the components in the package, and condoms when requested by distribution site.
  • The Research Guide: A Guide for Public Health Research Needs, 2006-2015 - This is a research guide, mainly dedicated to researchers, that focuses on CDC’s health protection research agenda for current and future needs and events in public health.
  • Chronic Disease Prevention: Health Risks in the United States Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) - For more than 20 years, CDC’s BRFSS has helped survey U.S. adults to gather information about a wide rage of behaviors that affect their health. The primary focus of these surveys has been on behaviors and conditions that are linked with the leading causes of death-heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and injury- and other important health issues.
  • Project START - A multi-site research study comparing the efficacy of two programs dealing with HIV, other Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD), and hepatitis prevention focuses on young men recently released from prison. The project was conducted in one state prison in Rhode Island, one in Mississippi, one in California, and in five state prisons in Wisconsin.
  • Project RESPECT - A national study evaluating the efficacy of HIV prevention counseling in changing high risk sexual behaviors and preventing new STDs and HIV. The six-year project involved 5,876 men and women who came for diagnosis and treatment for an STD to one of five publicly funded STD clinics across the U.S.
  • Pandemic Flu Project: Modeling the Impact of Pandemic Influenza on Pacific Islands - A computer model called FluAid utilizes stored historical information in order to determine the impact range of an influenza pandemic in its first wave. FluAid was used in Pacific Island countries due the lack of collected data in those countries.
  • 5 A Day (Health Promotion Campaign) - Aims to increase the fruit and vegetable consumption so that all Americans are consuming the amounts recommended in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005.
·        Screen for Life: National Colorectal Cancer Action Campaign (Health Promotion Campaign) - CDC’s multi-year Screen for Life: National Colorectal Cancer Action Campaign informs men and women aged 50 years or older about the importance of having regular colorectal cancer screening tests.
Educational materials produced by CDC inform the public about antibiotic resistance and appropriate antibiotic use in upper respiratory infections.
 
World Trade Center Monitoring and Treatment Program
This program provides health monitoring and treatment for the workers and volunteers who provided rescue, recovery, clean-up and restoration of essential services following the collapse of the WTC towers. Responders enrolled in the program are eligible to receive free monitoring, treatment and pharmaceuticals for WTC-related conditions (e.g. respiratory, gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, and mental health). As of November 1, 2007, approximately 49,000 responders had enrolled in the WTC Monitoring and Treatment Program. Of those enrolled, 37,570 responders had been screened, approximately 8,000 had received treatment for physical health conditions, and more than 5,000 had been treated for mental health conditions.
 

Office of Women’s Health

 

more
Where Does the Money Go:

Sanofi-Aventis of Aventis Pastuer Inc., has obtained a multi-year avian flu vaccine contract from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 2007 Sanofi received $126.9 million for its bulk pandemic vaccine, and it was expecting 192.5 million in the second quarter of 2008.

 
ZOSTAVAX ® from Merck, is the #1 recommended vaccine for the prevention of shingles in adults aged 60 and older. Merck claims ZOSTAVAX is the only vaccine that can prevent shingles. The CDC added this vaccine to the 2007-2008 recommended Adult Immunization Schedule.
 
The CDC revised a recommendation from four to three doses of Wyeth’s Prevnar for all healthy children under 2 years old. Prevnar is Wyeth’s vaccine to prevent pneumococcal disease in infants and young children. It was also the world’s best-selling vaccine in 2007.
 
Celerant Consulting received $10 million in business without competition by any other firm.
 

CDC deal possibly unlawful - Internal review criticized how firm was picked

(By Alison Young, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

 

more
Controversies:

Syphilis Up, AIDS Steady

Despite its mission statement of promoting health and quality life by preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability, the agency has been accused of inefficiency. For the last seven years, the CDC has spent $5 billion on AIDS prevention, but the infection rate hasn’t dropped. Also, the agency has spent about $300 million to eliminate syphilis, but the disease’s rate in the U.S. went up by 12% between 2006 and 2007.
U.S. Syphilis Rate Grows for 7th Year in Row (By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay)
 
White House Censors Testimony about Global Warming
On October 23,2007, the CDC provided Congressional testimony on the effects of global warming that was heavily edited by the White House. The White House deleted portions of the CDC director’s testimonial text that mentioned diseases that could prosper due to global warming. The six pages that were removed from the original twelve-page draft included mention of specific health concerns caused by climate changes. It included the expected outcomes from increased air pollution, food-borne diseases, etc. The edited version stated that “climate change is anticipated to have a broad range of impacts on health of Americans and the nation’s public health infrastructure.” However the original statement said that “the public health effects of climate change remain largely unaddressed” was removed, and the testimony mainly focused on the preparedness of health agencies with general problems
 
Wasting Money on Perks
Senator Tom Coburn, a physician himself, accused the CDC of wasting millions of dollars of taxpayer money on unnecessary perks. For example, the agency has spent $1.7 million since 2001 on a Hollywood, CA liaison office. This money is used in an effort to provide free medical expertise for television shows or film. CDC spokesperson Tom Skinner defended the program, claiming it is “an unusual and effective way to reach people” with messages regarding their health. CDC headquarters also houses a government funded employee fitness center with an estimated $200,000 in equipment, including zero-gravity chairs and a mood enhancing light show. Skinner responded to protest by explaining the provision of “first rate facilities for first-rate employees.”
 
Link between Autism and Vaccines
Many parents are convinced that vaccines are causing developmental side-affects in their children. The CDC is being criticized for its lack of research and communication regarding the subject.
Lawmakers Express Distrust of CDC on Vaccine Studies (By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos, Fox News)
 
Delayed Compensation
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) funding shortfall has delayed adequate compensation for claimants who are former workers at the Linde Ceramics facility in Tonawanda, New York. New York Rep. Louise Slaughter is concerned about the funding shortfall to the Linde Ceramics Workers and requested that CDC provide an update on NIOSH’s planned response to the audit of Linde Ceramics. Many former Linde Ceramics workers are still waiting for their claims to be addressed and several have been denied benefits. Rep. Slaughter learned that CDC had improperly denied funding to NIOSH, the agency responsible for developing an accurate site profile of the Linde Ceramics site.
 
Conflicts of Interest
Dr. Paul A. Offit is a pediatrician who received money from vaccine manufacturers to give pro-mandatory vaccine presentations across the country. He also happend to be a member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the CDC. His official statement concerning the subject of interest only acknowledged his "collaboration on the development of a rotavirus vaccine." When pushed by a question submitted to Rep. Dan Burton by Kathryn Serkes of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons about his financial ties to Merck & Co., Dr. Offit would only admit an "apparent conflict- of-interest."
Who Owns the Law? (Association of American Physicians and Surgeons Newsletter)
 
Swine Flu and Guillain-Barré Syndrome
The CDC was criticized because of the 1976 effort to vaccinate the U.S. population against swine flu, the infamous killer of 1918-19. When some recipients of the vaccine developed Guillain-Barré syndrome, the campaign was stopped immediately.
 
Tuskegee Syphilis Study
This study was conducted between 1932 and 1972 in Tuskegee, Alabama, in order to document the long-term effects of untreated syphilis. Three hundred ninety-nine poor, and mostly illiterate, African-American sharecroppers, who already suffered from syphilis, were studied to observe the natural progression of the disease when left untreated. Although the effectiveness of penicillin as a therapy for syphilis had been established during the late 1940s, participants remained untreated until the study was brought to public attention. This created a storm of protest when information of the study’s existence leaked into the media in 1972. The study had been initiated by the U.S. Public Health Service and other organizations in 1932 and was transferred to CDC in 1957. Individuals who enrolled in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study did not give informed consent and were not informed of their diagnosis; instead they were told they had "bad blood" and could receive free medical treatment, rides to the clinic, meals and burial insurance in case of death in return for participating. By the end of the study, only 74 of the test subjects were still alive. Twenty-eight of the men had died directly of syphilis, 100 were dead of related complications, 40 of their wives had been infected, and 19 of their children had been born with congenital syphilis.

The Tuskegee Timeline

 

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Former Directors:

Jeffrey P. Koplan 1998-2002

Before becoming the director of the CDC in 1998, Koplan was the President of Prudential Center for Health Care Research. After stepping down from the position of CDC director in 2002, Koplan moved on to become Vice President for academic health affairs at Emory University, also located in Atlanta.

 

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Founded: 1946
Annual Budget: $8.8 billion (2009)
Employees: 8,600 (2002)
Official Website: http://www.cdc.gov/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Frieden, Tom
Previous Director

With a long career in public health, Thomas R. Frieden’s credits include spearheading successful programs to curb tuberculosis in New York City and India. President Barack Obama’s choice to take over the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also has been accused of fomenting a “nanny state” while implementing controversial health measures in the nation’s largest city.

 
Born December 7, 1960, in Manhattan and raised in Westchester, Frieden graduated from Oberlin College, a liberal arts school in Ohio, in 1982. Before attending medical school at Columbia University, he lived for several months in Stanton, Tennessee, a small, rural area where few residents owned telephones. Frieden spent his time working for the Appalachian Student Health Coalition, gathering information on why locals didn’t utilize a public health clinic more often.
 
The experience had a profound impact on the impressionable Frieden. While attending Columbia and working on his medical degree, he wrote a letter to the editor in 1984, in which he complained of medical schools placing too much emphasis on specialty training and not enough on primary medicine. He also lamented the prejudice of the medical school system towards poor people, citing one medical school exam that referred to Appalachians as “filthy hillbillies.”
 
Frieden went on to receive his degrees in medicine and public health from Columbia University. He completed specialty training in internal medicine at Columbia and subspecialty training in infectious diseases at Yale University.
 
In 1990, Frieden was hired by the CDC as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer. In this role he documented a large outbreak of drug-resistant tuberculosis in New York City.
His work impressed NYC officials, who, in 1992, offered Frieden the post of assistant commissioner and director of the Health Department’s Bureau of Tuberculosis Control. The new position allowed him to tackle the TB outbreak head-on, and under his leadership, New York City crafted a model public health program that eventually controlled the epidemic and reduced new cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis by 80%.
 
By 1996 news of his accomplishments in controlling TB had spread to India, which was struggling with its own outbreak of the disease. As a medical officer for the World Health Organization on loan from the CDC, Frieden assisted in the development of a national tuberculosis prevention program that included building a network of Indian physicians to help state and local governments implement TB treatment and prevention. He also helped the Tuberculosis Research Centre in Chennai, India, establish a program to monitor the impact of tuberculosis control services. Overall, the national program has treated more than eight million patients with tuberculosis.
 
After five years in India, he returned to New York City at the request of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who appointed Frieden commissioner of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in January 2002. He also took over as chair of the New York City Board of Health.
 
In becoming NYC’s top health official, Frieden oversaw one of the oldest and largest public health agencies in the country, with an annual budget of $1.7 billion and more than 6,000 staff. His first initiative targeted smoking. He established a system to monitor the city’s smoking rate, and worked with Bloomberg to increase tobacco taxes, ban smoking from workplaces, including restaurants and bars, and run aggressive anti-tobacco advertisements.
 
Frieden also introduced “Take Care New York,” the city’s first comprehensive health policy, which targeted 10 leading causes of preventable illness and death.
 
With AIDS a major concern in NYC, Frieden advocated for a controversial plan to eliminate the requirement of patients to sign a written consent before being tested for HIV. Frieden said the change would encourage physicians to offer HIV tests during routine medical care, but some community advocates and civil libertarians opposed the idea because of fears that it would undermine patients’ rights and lead to forced HIV testing.
 
During Frieden’s watch the health department also introduced the “New York City Condom” program, which now gives away more than 35 million of the prophylactics annually.
 
To combat cardiovascular disease, Frieden lobbied restaurants to eliminate artificial trans fat, often used in deep frying, from the food they serve—a move labeled as trying to turn the city into a “nanny state,” according to industry representatives. The NYC program inspired similar laws in several cities and the state of California.
 
Frieden’s health department also required chain restaurants to post calorie information in order to raise consumer awareness. The rule was challenged in court by the New York State Restaurant Association, and even though the requirement was thrown out by a U.S. District Court judge, the NYC Board of Health re-enacted the measure.
 
During his seven years in New York, Frieden made some enemies who objected to the commissioner’s intrusive policies.
 
Charles King the president and CEO of Housing Works, a nonprofit organization that provides housing and services to homeless persons living with HIV/AIDS, told New York Magazine, “[Frieden] believes in what he’s doing to the point of arrogance, and as a consequence doesn’t really listen to outside voices.”
 
President Obama announced Frieden’s appointment to head the CDC on May 15, 2009.
 
A fiercely private man, Frieden is married with two sons, but has asked the media not to publish their names. His wife reportedly has worked to help battered women, children and immigrants.
 
300 Million Patients (by Anne Underwood, Newsweek)
Updates on Flu Spotlight New York’s Health Chief (by Anemona Hartocollis, New York Times)
Dr. Do-Gooder (by Dan Halpern, New York Magazine)
The Activist Commissioner (by Brian W. Simpson, Johns Hopkins Public Health Magazine)
Interview with Charlie Rose (August 30, 2006)
Data-Driven Doc (by Jonathan Walters, Governing Magazine)
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Gerberding, Julie
Former Director
Dr. Julie Louise Gerberding earned a B.A. in chemistry and biology and a M.D. at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.  She then completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of California at San Fransisco, where she also served as Chief Medical Resident before completing her fellowship in Clinical Pharmacology and Infectious Diseases. In 1990 Gerberding earned a M.P.H. degree at the University of California, Berkeley. She was a faculty member at UC San Francisco and directed the Prevention Epicenter, a multidisciplinary research, training, and clinical service program that focused on preventing infections in patients and their healthcare providers. In 1998 she became the Acting Deputy Director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID), where she played a major role in leading CDC´s response to the anthrax bioterrorism events of 2001. She became the first female director of the CDC in 2002. 
 
Soon after her arrival at the CDC, Gerberding began an organizational restructuring that led to many of the CDC's senior scientists and leaders leaving or announcing plans to leave. Gerberding's leadership of the CDC has been the subject of an inquiry by the United States Senate Finance Committee. Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the committee, has announced that the committee is trying to determine whether the upheaval at the agency has jeopardized its scientific mission. Among other things, the committee is investigating the circumstances surrounding the receipt of premium bonuses by members of an inner circle of officials at the CDC, at the expense of scientists and others who perform much of the agency's scientific work. Administrators inside Gerberding's office have benefited the most. William Gimson III, the agency's chief operating officer, received bonuses totaling $147,863 between 2002 and mid-2006. The growing share of premium bonuses for CDC administrators has meant less money is available for scientists and other workers. The increase in large cash awards has benefited employees in the CDC's financial, computer and human resources departments.
 
Gerberding has also come under harsh scrutiny by advocates of fighting autism, specifically actress Jenny McCarthy. McCarthy criticized Gerberding on the Chelsea Lately Show, saying that she has not done anything for the autistic community. McCarthy then held up a sign with the phone number to the White House and called for all viewers to ask for Gerberding’s resignation.
 
At the request of the Obama transition team, Geberding announced her resignation on January 9, 2009.
 
Julie Gerberding (Wikipedia)
 
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Bookmark and Share
Overview:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is one of 13 operating divisions of the US Department of Health and Human Services. The CDC leads public health efforts to prevent and control infectious and chronic disease, injuries, workplace hazards, disabilities, and environmental health threats. It is also responsible for producing and distributing health information internationally. While the CDC is globally recognized for its scientific research and epidemiologic investigations, newly emerging issues such as terrorism, environmental threats, and a rapidly aging population continue to challenge its capabilities. Although the CDC is supposed to prevent and control infectious disease, it has been accused of blatantly withholding information regarding such diseases as syphilis, autism and Guillain-Barré Syndrome.

 
more
History:

Dr. Joseph W. Mountin founded the original Communicable Disease Center in Atlanta, GA, in 1946. At that time it was a relatively insignificant branch of the Public Health Service. As a successor of Malaria Control in War Areas (MCWA), the agency initially focused on combating malaria by killing mosquitoes with insecticide. The agency started out with a budget under $10 million and less than 400 employees. By about 1949, malaria no longer posed a significant health risk in the U.S.,

 
The CDC moved on to conduct the first investigation of an epidemic of polio in Paulding County, Ohio in 1950. Two years later the first case of rabies in a bat was recognized. In 1957 national guidelines for the influenza vaccine were established. The CDC expanded its work overseas for the first time, in 1958, in order to combat an epidemic of cholera and smallpox in Southeast Asia. In 1964, the first Surgeon General’s report linking smoking to lung cancer was released. It stated that “cigarette smoking is a health hazard of sufficient importance in the United States to warrant appropriate remedial action.” In 1967, the CDC added The Foreign Quarantine Service, one of the oldest and most prestigious units of the Public Health Service, to its organization. In 1969, the first biocontainment lab was built and used in order to to protect scientists while they worked with deadly and infectious pathogens. 
 
In 1976 theCDC investigated two outbreaks of a previously unknown deadly hemorrhagic fever, later known as Ebola, in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Sudan. Global eradication of smallpox was achieved in 1977. In 1980, the CDC helped to recognize the illness associated with tampon use: toxic shock syndrome. The first diagnosis of the fatal disease later known as AIDS was described in the June 5, 1981, issue of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).   In 1984 the CDC studied Vietnam veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange. 
 
In 1994, polio was eliminated from the Americas. Unexplained Anthrax attacks first appeared in 2001: the first victim was a 63-year-old Florida man. He would be the first in a series of domestic terrorism victims of infection by anthrax sent through the mail. Two years later SARS created a big public scare when it was first reported in Asia. CDC provided guidance for surveillance, clinical and laboratory evaluation, and reporting. In 2005, Rubella was also completely eliminated from the United States.

 

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the United States: 50 Years

 

more
What it Does:

The CDC conducts surveillance on a wide range of health threats, from infectious diseases to bioterrorism to environmental hazards. It tries to look ahead to the future epidemics of an infectious disease like SARS or avian flu. Its goal is to prevent such outbreaks through such means as scientific breakthroughs and public education for prevention. It also provides funding for state and local health departments, community based organizations, and academic institutions for a wide array of public health programs and research.

 
10 Sample CDC Programs:
  • The Select Agent Program - Oversees labs that work with select agents (biological agents and toxins that can cause serious harm to humans) to prevent accidental or intentional release of the agents.
  • Controlled an outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Democratic Republic of Congo - As the early reports of the epidemic were inaccurate, which made clinical diagnosis impossible, the CDC scientists were deployed in September 2007 to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to control an outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever.
  • Distributed Basic Care Packages in Uganda - As a collaborative effort of CDC, the Ugandan Ministry of Health and other organizations, Basic Care Packages were distributed to promote health and reduce HIV/AIDS infections in rural Uganda and elsewhere in Africa. Basic Care Packages include two insecticide-treated mosquito nets, water vessel, filter cloth, bleach solution to disinfect water, information on how to obtain HIV family counseling, HIV testing services, cotrimoxazole, educational materials on how to use the components in the package, and condoms when requested by distribution site.
  • The Research Guide: A Guide for Public Health Research Needs, 2006-2015 - This is a research guide, mainly dedicated to researchers, that focuses on CDC’s health protection research agenda for current and future needs and events in public health.
  • Chronic Disease Prevention: Health Risks in the United States Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) - For more than 20 years, CDC’s BRFSS has helped survey U.S. adults to gather information about a wide rage of behaviors that affect their health. The primary focus of these surveys has been on behaviors and conditions that are linked with the leading causes of death-heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and injury- and other important health issues.
  • Project START - A multi-site research study comparing the efficacy of two programs dealing with HIV, other Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD), and hepatitis prevention focuses on young men recently released from prison. The project was conducted in one state prison in Rhode Island, one in Mississippi, one in California, and in five state prisons in Wisconsin.
  • Project RESPECT - A national study evaluating the efficacy of HIV prevention counseling in changing high risk sexual behaviors and preventing new STDs and HIV. The six-year project involved 5,876 men and women who came for diagnosis and treatment for an STD to one of five publicly funded STD clinics across the U.S.
  • Pandemic Flu Project: Modeling the Impact of Pandemic Influenza on Pacific Islands - A computer model called FluAid utilizes stored historical information in order to determine the impact range of an influenza pandemic in its first wave. FluAid was used in Pacific Island countries due the lack of collected data in those countries.
  • 5 A Day (Health Promotion Campaign) - Aims to increase the fruit and vegetable consumption so that all Americans are consuming the amounts recommended in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005.
·        Screen for Life: National Colorectal Cancer Action Campaign (Health Promotion Campaign) - CDC’s multi-year Screen for Life: National Colorectal Cancer Action Campaign informs men and women aged 50 years or older about the importance of having regular colorectal cancer screening tests.
Educational materials produced by CDC inform the public about antibiotic resistance and appropriate antibiotic use in upper respiratory infections.
 
World Trade Center Monitoring and Treatment Program
This program provides health monitoring and treatment for the workers and volunteers who provided rescue, recovery, clean-up and restoration of essential services following the collapse of the WTC towers. Responders enrolled in the program are eligible to receive free monitoring, treatment and pharmaceuticals for WTC-related conditions (e.g. respiratory, gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, and mental health). As of November 1, 2007, approximately 49,000 responders had enrolled in the WTC Monitoring and Treatment Program. Of those enrolled, 37,570 responders had been screened, approximately 8,000 had received treatment for physical health conditions, and more than 5,000 had been treated for mental health conditions.
 

Office of Women’s Health

 

more
Where Does the Money Go:

Sanofi-Aventis of Aventis Pastuer Inc., has obtained a multi-year avian flu vaccine contract from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 2007 Sanofi received $126.9 million for its bulk pandemic vaccine, and it was expecting 192.5 million in the second quarter of 2008.

 
ZOSTAVAX ® from Merck, is the #1 recommended vaccine for the prevention of shingles in adults aged 60 and older. Merck claims ZOSTAVAX is the only vaccine that can prevent shingles. The CDC added this vaccine to the 2007-2008 recommended Adult Immunization Schedule.
 
The CDC revised a recommendation from four to three doses of Wyeth’s Prevnar for all healthy children under 2 years old. Prevnar is Wyeth’s vaccine to prevent pneumococcal disease in infants and young children. It was also the world’s best-selling vaccine in 2007.
 
Celerant Consulting received $10 million in business without competition by any other firm.
 

CDC deal possibly unlawful - Internal review criticized how firm was picked

(By Alison Young, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

 

more
Controversies:

Syphilis Up, AIDS Steady

Despite its mission statement of promoting health and quality life by preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability, the agency has been accused of inefficiency. For the last seven years, the CDC has spent $5 billion on AIDS prevention, but the infection rate hasn’t dropped. Also, the agency has spent about $300 million to eliminate syphilis, but the disease’s rate in the U.S. went up by 12% between 2006 and 2007.
U.S. Syphilis Rate Grows for 7th Year in Row (By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay)
 
White House Censors Testimony about Global Warming
On October 23,2007, the CDC provided Congressional testimony on the effects of global warming that was heavily edited by the White House. The White House deleted portions of the CDC director’s testimonial text that mentioned diseases that could prosper due to global warming. The six pages that were removed from the original twelve-page draft included mention of specific health concerns caused by climate changes. It included the expected outcomes from increased air pollution, food-borne diseases, etc. The edited version stated that “climate change is anticipated to have a broad range of impacts on health of Americans and the nation’s public health infrastructure.” However the original statement said that “the public health effects of climate change remain largely unaddressed” was removed, and the testimony mainly focused on the preparedness of health agencies with general problems
 
Wasting Money on Perks
Senator Tom Coburn, a physician himself, accused the CDC of wasting millions of dollars of taxpayer money on unnecessary perks. For example, the agency has spent $1.7 million since 2001 on a Hollywood, CA liaison office. This money is used in an effort to provide free medical expertise for television shows or film. CDC spokesperson Tom Skinner defended the program, claiming it is “an unusual and effective way to reach people” with messages regarding their health. CDC headquarters also houses a government funded employee fitness center with an estimated $200,000 in equipment, including zero-gravity chairs and a mood enhancing light show. Skinner responded to protest by explaining the provision of “first rate facilities for first-rate employees.”
 
Link between Autism and Vaccines
Many parents are convinced that vaccines are causing developmental side-affects in their children. The CDC is being criticized for its lack of research and communication regarding the subject.
Lawmakers Express Distrust of CDC on Vaccine Studies (By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos, Fox News)
 
Delayed Compensation
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) funding shortfall has delayed adequate compensation for claimants who are former workers at the Linde Ceramics facility in Tonawanda, New York. New York Rep. Louise Slaughter is concerned about the funding shortfall to the Linde Ceramics Workers and requested that CDC provide an update on NIOSH’s planned response to the audit of Linde Ceramics. Many former Linde Ceramics workers are still waiting for their claims to be addressed and several have been denied benefits. Rep. Slaughter learned that CDC had improperly denied funding to NIOSH, the agency responsible for developing an accurate site profile of the Linde Ceramics site.
 
Conflicts of Interest
Dr. Paul A. Offit is a pediatrician who received money from vaccine manufacturers to give pro-mandatory vaccine presentations across the country. He also happend to be a member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the CDC. His official statement concerning the subject of interest only acknowledged his "collaboration on the development of a rotavirus vaccine." When pushed by a question submitted to Rep. Dan Burton by Kathryn Serkes of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons about his financial ties to Merck & Co., Dr. Offit would only admit an "apparent conflict- of-interest."
Who Owns the Law? (Association of American Physicians and Surgeons Newsletter)
 
Swine Flu and Guillain-Barré Syndrome
The CDC was criticized because of the 1976 effort to vaccinate the U.S. population against swine flu, the infamous killer of 1918-19. When some recipients of the vaccine developed Guillain-Barré syndrome, the campaign was stopped immediately.
 
Tuskegee Syphilis Study
This study was conducted between 1932 and 1972 in Tuskegee, Alabama, in order to document the long-term effects of untreated syphilis. Three hundred ninety-nine poor, and mostly illiterate, African-American sharecroppers, who already suffered from syphilis, were studied to observe the natural progression of the disease when left untreated. Although the effectiveness of penicillin as a therapy for syphilis had been established during the late 1940s, participants remained untreated until the study was brought to public attention. This created a storm of protest when information of the study’s existence leaked into the media in 1972. The study had been initiated by the U.S. Public Health Service and other organizations in 1932 and was transferred to CDC in 1957. Individuals who enrolled in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study did not give informed consent and were not informed of their diagnosis; instead they were told they had "bad blood" and could receive free medical treatment, rides to the clinic, meals and burial insurance in case of death in return for participating. By the end of the study, only 74 of the test subjects were still alive. Twenty-eight of the men had died directly of syphilis, 100 were dead of related complications, 40 of their wives had been infected, and 19 of their children had been born with congenital syphilis.

The Tuskegee Timeline

 

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Former Directors:

Jeffrey P. Koplan 1998-2002

Before becoming the director of the CDC in 1998, Koplan was the President of Prudential Center for Health Care Research. After stepping down from the position of CDC director in 2002, Koplan moved on to become Vice President for academic health affairs at Emory University, also located in Atlanta.

 

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Founded: 1946
Annual Budget: $8.8 billion (2009)
Employees: 8,600 (2002)
Official Website: http://www.cdc.gov/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Frieden, Tom
Previous Director

With a long career in public health, Thomas R. Frieden’s credits include spearheading successful programs to curb tuberculosis in New York City and India. President Barack Obama’s choice to take over the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also has been accused of fomenting a “nanny state” while implementing controversial health measures in the nation’s largest city.

 
Born December 7, 1960, in Manhattan and raised in Westchester, Frieden graduated from Oberlin College, a liberal arts school in Ohio, in 1982. Before attending medical school at Columbia University, he lived for several months in Stanton, Tennessee, a small, rural area where few residents owned telephones. Frieden spent his time working for the Appalachian Student Health Coalition, gathering information on why locals didn’t utilize a public health clinic more often.
 
The experience had a profound impact on the impressionable Frieden. While attending Columbia and working on his medical degree, he wrote a letter to the editor in 1984, in which he complained of medical schools placing too much emphasis on specialty training and not enough on primary medicine. He also lamented the prejudice of the medical school system towards poor people, citing one medical school exam that referred to Appalachians as “filthy hillbillies.”
 
Frieden went on to receive his degrees in medicine and public health from Columbia University. He completed specialty training in internal medicine at Columbia and subspecialty training in infectious diseases at Yale University.
 
In 1990, Frieden was hired by the CDC as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer. In this role he documented a large outbreak of drug-resistant tuberculosis in New York City.
His work impressed NYC officials, who, in 1992, offered Frieden the post of assistant commissioner and director of the Health Department’s Bureau of Tuberculosis Control. The new position allowed him to tackle the TB outbreak head-on, and under his leadership, New York City crafted a model public health program that eventually controlled the epidemic and reduced new cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis by 80%.
 
By 1996 news of his accomplishments in controlling TB had spread to India, which was struggling with its own outbreak of the disease. As a medical officer for the World Health Organization on loan from the CDC, Frieden assisted in the development of a national tuberculosis prevention program that included building a network of Indian physicians to help state and local governments implement TB treatment and prevention. He also helped the Tuberculosis Research Centre in Chennai, India, establish a program to monitor the impact of tuberculosis control services. Overall, the national program has treated more than eight million patients with tuberculosis.
 
After five years in India, he returned to New York City at the request of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who appointed Frieden commissioner of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in January 2002. He also took over as chair of the New York City Board of Health.
 
In becoming NYC’s top health official, Frieden oversaw one of the oldest and largest public health agencies in the country, with an annual budget of $1.7 billion and more than 6,000 staff. His first initiative targeted smoking. He established a system to monitor the city’s smoking rate, and worked with Bloomberg to increase tobacco taxes, ban smoking from workplaces, including restaurants and bars, and run aggressive anti-tobacco advertisements.
 
Frieden also introduced “Take Care New York,” the city’s first comprehensive health policy, which targeted 10 leading causes of preventable illness and death.
 
With AIDS a major concern in NYC, Frieden advocated for a controversial plan to eliminate the requirement of patients to sign a written consent before being tested for HIV. Frieden said the change would encourage physicians to offer HIV tests during routine medical care, but some community advocates and civil libertarians opposed the idea because of fears that it would undermine patients’ rights and lead to forced HIV testing.
 
During Frieden’s watch the health department also introduced the “New York City Condom” program, which now gives away more than 35 million of the prophylactics annually.
 
To combat cardiovascular disease, Frieden lobbied restaurants to eliminate artificial trans fat, often used in deep frying, from the food they serve—a move labeled as trying to turn the city into a “nanny state,” according to industry representatives. The NYC program inspired similar laws in several cities and the state of California.
 
Frieden’s health department also required chain restaurants to post calorie information in order to raise consumer awareness. The rule was challenged in court by the New York State Restaurant Association, and even though the requirement was thrown out by a U.S. District Court judge, the NYC Board of Health re-enacted the measure.
 
During his seven years in New York, Frieden made some enemies who objected to the commissioner’s intrusive policies.
 
Charles King the president and CEO of Housing Works, a nonprofit organization that provides housing and services to homeless persons living with HIV/AIDS, told New York Magazine, “[Frieden] believes in what he’s doing to the point of arrogance, and as a consequence doesn’t really listen to outside voices.”
 
President Obama announced Frieden’s appointment to head the CDC on May 15, 2009.
 
A fiercely private man, Frieden is married with two sons, but has asked the media not to publish their names. His wife reportedly has worked to help battered women, children and immigrants.
 
300 Million Patients (by Anne Underwood, Newsweek)
Updates on Flu Spotlight New York’s Health Chief (by Anemona Hartocollis, New York Times)
Dr. Do-Gooder (by Dan Halpern, New York Magazine)
The Activist Commissioner (by Brian W. Simpson, Johns Hopkins Public Health Magazine)
Interview with Charlie Rose (August 30, 2006)
Data-Driven Doc (by Jonathan Walters, Governing Magazine)
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Gerberding, Julie
Former Director
Dr. Julie Louise Gerberding earned a B.A. in chemistry and biology and a M.D. at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.  She then completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of California at San Fransisco, where she also served as Chief Medical Resident before completing her fellowship in Clinical Pharmacology and Infectious Diseases. In 1990 Gerberding earned a M.P.H. degree at the University of California, Berkeley. She was a faculty member at UC San Francisco and directed the Prevention Epicenter, a multidisciplinary research, training, and clinical service program that focused on preventing infections in patients and their healthcare providers. In 1998 she became the Acting Deputy Director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID), where she played a major role in leading CDC´s response to the anthrax bioterrorism events of 2001. She became the first female director of the CDC in 2002. 
 
Soon after her arrival at the CDC, Gerberding began an organizational restructuring that led to many of the CDC's senior scientists and leaders leaving or announcing plans to leave. Gerberding's leadership of the CDC has been the subject of an inquiry by the United States Senate Finance Committee. Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the committee, has announced that the committee is trying to determine whether the upheaval at the agency has jeopardized its scientific mission. Among other things, the committee is investigating the circumstances surrounding the receipt of premium bonuses by members of an inner circle of officials at the CDC, at the expense of scientists and others who perform much of the agency's scientific work. Administrators inside Gerberding's office have benefited the most. William Gimson III, the agency's chief operating officer, received bonuses totaling $147,863 between 2002 and mid-2006. The growing share of premium bonuses for CDC administrators has meant less money is available for scientists and other workers. The increase in large cash awards has benefited employees in the CDC's financial, computer and human resources departments.
 
Gerberding has also come under harsh scrutiny by advocates of fighting autism, specifically actress Jenny McCarthy. McCarthy criticized Gerberding on the Chelsea Lately Show, saying that she has not done anything for the autistic community. McCarthy then held up a sign with the phone number to the White House and called for all viewers to ask for Gerberding’s resignation.
 
At the request of the Obama transition team, Geberding announced her resignation on January 9, 2009.
 
Julie Gerberding (Wikipedia)
 
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