Last weekend, the Trump administration sent termination notices to 1,760 staffers fromthe U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fulfilling a pledge to slash the federal workforce during the government shutdown. But days later, a court filing from a Health and Human Services Department (HHS) official canceled 778 of the firings, which they said were done in error. Among those still terminated are the researchers behind the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a census that, among several contributions, develops national estimates of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes.
The United States loses that key NCD indicator mere weeks after HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vetoed a UN General Assembly political declaration that set an international vision for future prevention and control of NCDs. To lead this week's newsletter, CFR Senior Fellow Prashant Yadav and TGH Research Associate Alejandra Martinez walk through the recent history of NCD declarations, outlining what the pledges and strategies need to meet the realities of expanding access to medicines for those diseases.
Next, journalist Rachel Nuwer continues the NCD conversation by unpacking the latest iteration of the Global Burden of Disease study, which was published on October 12. It reveals that while infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB) have plummeted, chronic diseases including heart disease, diabetes, and depression have intensified worldwide.
Looking ahead to the end of the month, Carlos Javier Regazzoni, director of the Argentine Council on Foreign Relations' human security and global health committee, surveys the health-care challenges President Javier Milei faces ahead of the country's midterm elections. He writes that Milei's reforms risk eroding population health, but unwinding those changes could incur further harm.
Until next week!—Nsikan Akpan, Managing Editor, and Caroline Kantis, Associate Editor
