Save public health data to save American lives

Data-driven, reality-based health science saves lives. Without it, we could not protect people from disease, cure them when they’re sick, or ensure that the places where they live promote good health. In America today, however, an anti-facts movement is eroding the data needed to protect lives.

Already, the Trump administration has dramatically changed how health data is gathered and reported, removed federal websites and datasets, cut staff and funding for health agencies and health research, and diminished our ability to track traditional health outcomes and social determinants of health. The public health community has lost critical data for tracking flu, COVID, sexually transmitted diseases, women’s and children’s health, and more. Thousands of staff at the Department of Health and Human Services have been let go.