New York, Los Angeles, October 13 The ¡°misconduct¡± incident at the U.S. disease control center raises concerns about the public health system

Newspapers of Tanjing.

A few days ago, a "misunderstanding of employment" incident occurred in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which aroused widespread public concern: on the evening of 10th, thousands of employees in several key scientific research departments of the institution received layoff notices; On the 11th, the relevant departments announced the cancellation of some notices, and many people who were "misunderstood and hired" would be recalled. This incident quickly fermented, and the two major trade unions in the United States condemned the dismissal as "illegal abuse of power" on the 12th.

Public health experts pointed out that this wave highlights the chaos in the operation of U.S. government agencies, overlapping high-level shocks and institutional adjustments within the United States Centers for Disease Control, could undermine the stability of the U.S. public health system and decision-making independence, and pose a potential threat to the overall U.S. ability to prevent disease control.

The incident occurred during the ¡°stop-down¡± of the U.S. federal government.According to several media reports, about 1,300 employees of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control received a dismissal notification on the evening of 10th, involving several departments such as public health data, monitoring and technical offices.The recipients were told that their positions were identified as ¡°no longer necessary¡± or ¡°almost the same¡± as the functions of other departments of the institution and were therefore dismissed.

Several employees said the practice was brutal during the government¡¯s ¡°stop-down¡± period, as many federal employees were out of office and were unable to retrieve or respond to emails in a timely manner, making it difficult for them to get information on dismissal, compensation or resumption.

On the 11th, the media quoted US federal health officials as saying that due to "coding errors", the government mistakenly issued layoff notices to some key department members, and hundreds of notices have been withdrawn. The New York Times reported that this "mistake" further aggravated the instability of the CDC. According to the US Axios News Network, although most layoff notices have been withdrawn, about 600 employees are still laid off, involving key functional units such as the Washington office of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Two major U.S. trade unions, the U.S. Federation of Government Employees and the U.S. Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, issued a statement on the evening of 12 condemning the dismissal as an ¡°illegal abuse of office.¡±The former chief medical officer and deputy director of projects and science at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Debra Horry, warned that this massive personnel adjustment could be a ¡°destructive blow¡± to the U.S. and even the global public health defense line.

Dimitri Zakarakis, former director of the National Center for Immunity and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control, said the chaos exposed a lack of understanding of the ¡°organic integrity¡± of the public health system to senior institutions and the trauma caused to current employees and future leaders was ¡°difficult to repair.¡±

In recent months, the disease control centers have experienced ongoing shocks.

In April this year, the U.S. Department of Health and Public Services launched a massive job cuts plan with a total of up to 10,000 people, as its subsidiary agency, the U.S. disease control center faces staff loss and institutional cuts.

On August 8, an anti-vaccine shooting at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, raised concerns about the security and stability of the institution.

At the end of August, Susan Monarez, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who took office less than a month ago, was dismissed by the White House. Subsequently, many senior officials of the agency resigned one after another, causing an uproar in the American public health community. The continuing tense relationship between U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr. and the U.S. CDC has also aroused concern and doubts from the outside world.

Public opinion believes that the recent series of turmoil has led to an unprecedented brain drain in the U.S. public health field, impacting the stability and policy independence of the system, weakening the U.S. public health surveillance, defense and Incident Response Service capabilities, and bringing risks to people's health and safety. It also undermines the public's trust in the government.