Reforming and Strengthening the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Five Key Reforms to Renew the Agency’s Stature and Effectiveness

Authors

Lawrence O. Gostin, Georgetown University - Law Center - O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health LawFollow
Sandro Galea, Boston University School of Public Health

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-30-2020

DOI

10.1599/mqop.2020.1131

Abstract

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the world’s leading public health agency, so admired that whole regions and countries have borrowed its name—in Africa, Europe, even China. In past epidemics, CDC’s expertise was transformative, such as in AIDS, Ebola, Zika, and Influenza H1N1. If there ever were a moment for the CDC to show leadership domestically and globally, it was the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, the CDC’s stature was diminished—not enhanced—in an administration that not only eschewed science and politically pressured the CDC, but also gave notice of withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO), where CDC staff were firmly embedded. Recognizing where the CDC fell short in 2020 can inform the Biden Administration how to reform and strengthen the nation’s public health agency. Deep structural reform should occur in at least five critical areas.

Publication Citation

Reforming and Strengthening the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Five Key Reforms to Renew the Agency’s Stature and Effectiveness. Milbank Quarterly Opinion. November 30, 2020.

Scholarly Commons Citation

Gostin, Lawrence O. and Galea, Sandro, "Reforming and Strengthening the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Five Key Reforms to Renew the Agency’s Stature and Effectiveness" (2020). Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works. 2336.
https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/2336