525: CDC Director Shares Priorities

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Tuesday, October 17, 2023. I'm Robert Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

MANDY COHEN: 

A well-funded CDC means a well-funded local community health infrastructure.

JOHNSON: 

CDC Director, Dr. Mandy Cohen, in her first interview for the Morning Edition. We talked with her at the end of last week about her priorities for public health. Here's that conversation.  It's an interesting opportunity at this moment in time, because we're emerging from the pandemic, considering all of the lessons learned, what are your priorities, given all of that, for the CDC, as you think about today, and the future?

COHEN: 

Well, look, we went through something incredibly historic. And I think one of their biggest lessons learned was that public health and protecting the health of the public is something that is a team sport, right? It is not something that the CDC and traditional state and local public health can do alone, we know that this is a team effort. And so thinking about how we can leverage the lessons we learned, and frankly, the partnerships and wonderful ways in which we worked across healthcare delivery system, with academia, with the private sector, and we brought all of those to bear to protect the health of this country. So we're certainly focused on making sure we can maintain those relationships, but also focus on making sure we are getting our core work, right, making sure that we have the lab capability and diagnostics that we need that we have the data infrastructure, and I'm sure we'll talk more about data that we have, the workforce that is trained, and the talent that we need to respond to these threats.

JOHNSON: 

And you're not just talking about these, the CDC is making some record investments right now in public health all around the country. Can you talk about that?

COHEN: 

Over the last number of years through the public health emergency, additional funding has come to public health, and we are trying to put that to work. I think folks don't realize that more than 70% of the funding that comes to CDC goes right to communities: to states and local communities. And we're investing in a number of ways. One of those ways is in making sure that we have the data infrastructure across the country that we need to have the visibility into health threats. So, we need- in order for us to identify and respond to those threats, we need data. It is the oxygen that powers our work. And a lot of support and funding has gone out into our state and local partners, to make sure that we're putting in modern data infrastructure again, so that we can all have visibility into what's happening. So, data is certainly a huge investment. But also workforce, we need talented, trained folks who know how to do the detection work, and the health promotion work that is necessary to keeping our communities healthy. So, those are two ways in which we are definitely investing around the country and why we need a well-funded CDC, a well-funded CDC means a well-funded local community health infrastructure. And so that is really, really important.

JOHNSON: 

And the great thing about your background is you were at the state level, so you know how it feels to be on the other end of this relationship. Thinking of that, how can state and territorial health officials help you with all of this work that you're trying to get done?

COHEN: 

Well, I do I first I want to recognize how important and challenging the work is, and that folks have been working incredibly hard through the pandemic, and that we need to make sure again, that they have the resources they need. And again, a well funded CDC means a well funded local infrastructure and people to do the job. I do want to say to folks that are listening, my are public health practitioners out there, we do need a bit of a mind shift around data, because I know there's a lot of folks that this is you operate and work very hard to collect data so that we can have that visibility to understand health threats. But we have to move away from a this data is mine mindset. We need to show that data is a shared asset to protect this country. And that starts with my own team at at CDC. We have often had that that data is mine mindset, but just because you collect or you steward that data, it doesn't make it you or is we have to make sure that we are, are making that information as widely available as possible so that we are all armed with the information we need to protect the public's health. So CDC needs to move away from the data is mine mentality. And we are working very hard on that data cannot and should not be owned by any one program or jurisdiction or agency. And so I'm hopeful that you all out there in our states and localities can sort of come along with us in this journey to say we absolutely need data that is accurate, and timely, and high quality, but shared, we need data to flow quickly between public health and health care between states and CDC.

JOHNSON: 

We know sometimes that can be a little challenging, depending on the jurisdiction, even though they might want to offer that data for greater use. Do you have any advice given all of your perspectives on how someone might be able to navigate that if they're running into some resistance at home?

COHEN: 

Well, first, you know, work with our teams, and let's learn from states where they are able to maybe navigate this differently. But I would say I think it always goes back to the why why is data integration and sharing so important and helping us I think we've learned so many lessons and COVID, and how understanding what's happening beyond your County border and beyond your state borders is is so important to protecting the health within your state. And remember, we're mostly talking about de identified data here. So this isn't about sharing line level person data. But it is about sharing de identified data so that we can know what's happening and respond to those threats. So what can we learn from states that are running fast on this and figured out how to work with their local officials, but I would say is, you know, someone who's had to talk through, you know, data issues with with state legislature, leaders, help them understand the why, why is it important that this data is seen and shared? And how can we move in that direction. And we know we want to be partners with you in that work.

JOHNSON: 

Talk about your thoughts around RSV awareness, and particularly how we're going to deal with that now that we have a vaccine for some of the populations most affected.

COHEN: 

We have a vaccine for our seniors over the age of 60. We have a vaccine net was just recommended in the last few weeks for pregnant moms between 32 and 36 weeks of pregnancy. And we have a long acting monoclonal immunization for babies called nurse seven Mab for those under eight months. And so this is historic. But I will say these are new vaccines that are just getting out onto the market. So folks need to learn about them. So there's a lot of work to do in the public health space to educate folks about these new vaccines. But please don't forget COVID and flu as well updated COVID vaccine for everyone over six months updated flu shot for everyone over six months, we know we're going to see more viruses circulating. This is the first season we're going into where the COVID vaccine is not purchased and distributed by the federal government. So we need to make sure that we're helping folks through the process. We do have a bridge program this year from the CDC. So COVID vaccines can be free for everyone. So we know that there's been some operational hurdles that we've been working through with folks, but make sure that you are getting the information you can out to folks about the importance of vaccination.

JOHNSON: 

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