874: Federal Funding Update; Transition Feeding Resources

SUMMER JOHNSON: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Monday, March 31, 2025. I'm Summer Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

It's been a busy few weeks for public health. We sat down with ASTHO's new chief medical officer, Dr. Susan Kansagra, to tell us what we need to know.

Dr. Kansagra, it's a bit of an understatement to say there's been a lot of activity in D.C. that affects public health. Tell us the latest.

SUSAN KANSAGRA: 

So, early last week, states and territories received notices abruptly canceling some CDC funding streams that supported a wide variety of public health response work, and so states and territories are still grappling with the full impact of what this termination in funding means, but we are hearing a lot of those stories from states and some of the impacts this will have. So first, these cuts will create holes in states' abilities to detect disease and respond quickly. These funds were allocated by Congress to address gaps in public health infrastructure that became evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. But the funding really supported public health infrastructure as a whole, not just COVID-19 response. And so, for example, that infrastructure is also really important to the country's ability to detect and respond to other health threats, like measles, H5N1, ebola, or even diseases that we don't know about yet. So, obviously, that leaves a hole in some of the preparedness and response infrastructure across states and territories. Some of this funding was allocated by Congress also to support laboratory capacity, including personnel and equipment. And as you know, most folks know, our public health laboratories have really specialized equipment, staffing, and processes to handle health threats and handle emerging health threats. So, that termination in funding means that states and territories are less likely to detect disease and therefore be able to contain outbreaks. The funding also helped connect people to healthcare resources. Specifically, the funding supported community health workers who help educate people on health needs and connect them to services like blood pressure monitoring, mental health counseling, and many other things. And community health workers often work in places that don't have access to healthcare, like rural areas, in the same way that perhaps you know, other communities have, and so that workforce is really particularly important in certain communities. So, the termination of these funds also impair the ability to certify and train community health workers who connect people to healthcare services, and especially the community partners and individuals that rely on them for those services. So, overall, the abrupt loss of these activities impair state and territories' ability to respond to current and future health threats and will leave a big hole in our public health infrastructure going forward.

JOHNSON: 

What are the immediate impacts on the states?

KANSAGRA: 

Yeah, so states are immediately thinking through how they will carry out these close outs of these awards. And for many states, that means letting go of staff. For some states, that can be hundreds of staff, it means ending contracts. It means quickly communicating with partners who relied on that funding on the ground to carry out some of these public health activities I mentioned. So, there's a lot happening right now and a lot of hard conversations happening in how they accomplish their objectives and goals with the loss of this funding, and if there's any way to mitigate some of those things that they were saying.

JOHNSON: 

Finally, what has ASTHO been doing behind the scenes to advocate for its members?

KANSAGRA: 

ASTHO is doing a number of things, one of course, helping to get questions answered about the finer details of how the requirements of the termination of these funds will be carried out in the amount of time states and territories have to be able to wrap up some of this funding. Obviously, being able to collect stories about the impact and make sure people understand the impact of these funds and what the lack of these funds going forward will mean, and then working closely with our partners as well. You know, there's a number of national public health organizations that are very well in-tune to what this funding means for our country as a whole, and so working to continue to lift up what some of that impact will be.

JOHNSON: 

Thank you for your time, Dr. Kansagra. ASTHO will continue to represent its members and public health needs in Washington. As events unfold, as always, we'll keep you up to date with the latest on this show.

For the first time, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and HHS included dietary recommendations for infants and toddlers in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Martha Hagen, with the Association of State Public Health Nutritionists, tells us about new resources surrounding transition feeding.

MARTHA HAGEN: 

ASPHN, which is the Association of State Public Health Nutritionists, thought that considering culture or traditions was a really good idea, and that some information about a few cultures could be helpful for nutritionists working with families.

JOHNSON: 

Hagen says the transition feeding briefs hopefully help answer questions for parents.

HAGEN: 

You know, what food should we try? What should be the first food? And so, these briefs provide basically just background information about a specific culture, maybe the effects of migration on that culture, information about breastfeeding practices, and traditional complementary foods for infants.

JOHNSON: 

Several different cultures are included in the briefs, including Afghan, East African, Native American, and Ukrainian cultures.

HAGEN: 

Knowing what a traditional transition food is can help someone working with the families find maybe a similar alternative in the U.S. grocery store, or maybe advise a family about a substitute that they could find that would, you know, fit in with the family traditions, but still be okay for the infant.

JOHNSON: 

You can read through the briefs and learn more about National Nutrition Month, which wraps up today, by clicking the link in the show notes.

Finally, this morning, this week is your chance to learn the benefits of creating those partnerships between state and local health agencies and community coalitions. ASTHO and NACCHO will host a virtual learning session on Thursday, April 3. Find out more and sign up by clicking the link in the show notes.

That'll do it for today. We're back tomorrow morning with more ASTHO news and information. I'm Summer Johnson, you're listening to the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great day.