Officials with Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) said the increases for public health programs in President Joe Biden’s FY 2022 budget are an important step in the country’s future.
The budget request includes a 23 percent increase to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and an 18 percent increase to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“Trust for America’s Health is encouraged to see proposed increases for public health funding in the President’s FY2022 budget request, including a $1.6 billion increase for the (CDC),” John Auerbach, president and CEO of TFAH. “The unprecedented events of the past year demonstrate the need for increased and sustained investments in core public health. The pandemic exposed gaps in the public health system and major underlying health inequities in our communities – deficits that made the nation particularly vulnerable.”
The group said long-neglected public health issues, like addressing racial inequities and the social determinants of health, climate change’s impact on health, and the substance use epidemic, were represented in the proposed budget.
“We hope that Congress follows the Administration’s lead and commits the resources that public health needs to carry out its mission,” he said in a statement. “The increases proposed in the budget request are an important step forward, future budgets will also need to invest in public health and address disparities that continue to place some communities at higher risk.”
The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) also applauded the proposal.
“With significant increases in funding for the Department of Health and Human Services, the plan seeks to build and support public health and biomedical research capacities that are essential to protecting individual and community health and to confronting the challenges we face now and ahead,” IDSA said in a statement. “With increased support for treatment, prevention, and services pivotal to stopping HIV transmissions and illnesses, the plan demonstrates commitment to ending the impacts of HIV as a public health threat. The proposal also allocates unprecedented investments to ending this country’s opioid crisis, which continues to fuel increased bacterial, fungal, and viral infections. Critically, the plan addresses the stark disparities in access to health and health care that constitute fault lines across America and compromise our integrity and potential as a nation.”