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impacted the CDC’s initiatives related to immunizations, emerging and zoonotic infectious diseases, chronic disease prevention and health promotion, birth defects and other disabilities, environmental health, injury prevention and control, occupational safety and health, global health, and public health preparedness and response.5 Each of these areas saw a negative impact in hundreds of millions of dollars that will substantially worsen the health of the United States across multiple areas of public health. Ultimately, the Trump administration’s choice to decrease CDC funding will have substantial long-lasting impacts on population health in the U.S.
There is a significant body of evidence demonstrating the importance of public health investment for a nation that goes beyond the health of the population and that demonstrates significant financial and economic benefits.8 According to the CDC, ninety percent of U.S. healthcare expenditures are for chronic and mental health conditions; however, only 2.5% of national health expenditures is actually spent on government public health activities.9,10 The United States spends more on healthcare per capita than any other country, without significantly better health outcomes and with much of that spending on preventable chronic conditions.9,11 If the U.S. invested more heavily in public health activities aimed at preventing chronic conditions across all social determinants of health, significant financial savings would result and lives would be saved.12
In the current political environment, public health financing will continue to decrease in favor of advancing scientific research for new products and treatments. As mentioned previously, politics heavily influence budget allocations, and the current president has repeatedly demonstrated his interest in increasing spending for scientific research for pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and other treatment options via the FDA, and a decreased interest in allocating budgets for the prevention of chronic diseases through the CDC. Any increases in public health financing via budget allocations will likely only come when a mo