CDC's Director Calls for "Real Time" Public Health Data

Jul 7

Jul 7 CDC's Director Calls for "Real Time" Public Health Data

America's top disease control official says the nation needs a greater federal investment in ways the Center for Disease Control and Prevention can forecast and control diseases like the COVID-19 pandemic.

The coronavirus has "highlighted the shortcomings of our public health system that has been underfunded for decades," CDC Director Robert Redfield said on June 4. Redfield testified before a U.S. House appropriations subcommittee.

"Never has it been more clear that our nation's public health IT infrastructure requires modernization to support and collect reportable, reliable, comprehensive, and timely data.

"When we control any disease threat, CDC and public health departments must make real time decisions based on real time data. Data informs the roadmap, and it informs policy. Data is the backbone of any disease threat response."

(Source: albanyherald.com)

Thomas Laue

Tom Laue reported, wrote and edited stories for United Press International and the Associated Press in Illinois and Kentucky. He was also the chief communications officer for Illinois’ Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the Illinois Housing Development Authority. He taught journalism at Columbia College Chicago and holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. For 14 years, he edited a five-state publication for Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare customers serving 650,000 people. Everybody says Laue hosts the greatest poker games ever.