HHS Issues Termination Notices to an Estimated 10,000 Employees – Impacting the Division of Blood Disorders and Public Health Genomics
We need your help! Contact your representatives today!
On April 1, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued termination notices to an estimated 10,000 employees, carrying out a previously announced plan to reduce staff and reorganize. One of the HHS offices that was impacted was the Division of Blood Disorders and Public Health Genomics (Division) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Reports indicate that all but two Division staff were placed on administrative leave, with termination expected at the end of 60 days. These experts have played a vital role in research, public health programs, and data collection for our community.
Since 1982, Great Lakes Hemophilia Foundation (GLHF) has served as the Regional Core Center for federal grants from the CDC, American Thrombosis & Hemostasis Network (ATHN) and the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA). GLHF oversees the administration and monitoring of funding for 13 Hemophilia Treatment Centers (HTCs) in Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota — collectively known as Region V-West (CDC/ATHN) and the Northern States Region (HRSA). The CDC/ATHN grant supports data collection to monitor national bleeding disorder trends anonymously. We are deeply grateful to our CDC colleagues for their years of partnership.
Eliminating the Division, its data repository, and institutional expertise would be a devastating loss. GLHF, in its roles both as Regional Core Center and as a patient advocacy organization, is actively working to respond alongside our regional and national partners. We are contacting elected officials and making it clear that these programs must be protected.
The Division of Blood Disorders’ legacy traces back to the 1980s’ tainted blood crisis, when CDC investigators were the first to discern and warn of HIV’s transmissibility through blood and blood products. The Division continued to serve the bleeding disorders community through public health surveillance, maintaining a clinical laboratory with blood samples dating back to 1996, and supporting the “Community Counts” data program. It also funds education to increase understanding of hemophilia and its complications. Elimination of the Division, its clinical repository, and its institutional knowledge would be a huge loss for the bleeding disorders community.
Our community must come together so our collective voice is heard! We need your help!
Join us by reaching out to your federal elected officials to protect these essential programs. You may also contact your state elected officials to ask them to encourage their federal counterparts to safeguard these critical programs and help them understand their importance. This is not a political issue. It is a matter of public health and safety.
We are requesting that Congress:
1. Immediately restore the Division of Blood Disorders and Public Health Genomics and the Blood Disorders Surveillance and Epidemiology Branch.
2. Establish an emergency transition plan to ensure continuity of critical services until full restoration is achieved.
3. Meet with representatives from the bleeding disorders community to understand the real-world impact of these cuts.
To find your federal and state Senator or Representative’s contact information, click here.
Use the script below to get started.
Dear [Senator or Representative],
I am [calling/emailing] as a member of the bleeding disorders community and as your constituent to ask that you protect the federal hemophilia programs at the CDC. The recent HHS restructuring eliminated essentially all the staff at the CDC’s Division of Blood Disorders, where the hemophilia programs are housed.
These programs:
Help to collect important data on bleeding disorders which in turn helps to lead to new and more effective treatments.
Provide funding for education and outreach to increase patient and provider understanding of hemophilia.
Help to protect the safety of our nation’s blood supply.
I am relying on you, as my elected official, to take action to ensure that the staff for this program are reinstated and to protect the funding for this critical program.
Thank you,
[Your Name]
Please email info@glhf.org with any questions. GLHF will provide alerts to our community if there are other changes that could impact care and services.
Thank you for raising your voice to support our community.