There is a dangerous new government policy being proposed which could harm healthcare workers and patients across the country. Instead of strengthening infection control policies in healthcare settings to protect workers and patients from infectious diseases such as COVID-19, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and future pandemic pathogens, the CDC is planning future guidance which could lower healthcare infection control standards.
The CDC’s Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) advises CDC on infection control policies. HICPAC is made up largely of healthcare management representatives, and are
subject to almost no public scrutiny. Policies are made with minimal input from patients or healthcare workers.
They are slated to vote on new proposed guidance on August 22, but all we have access to is a barebones powerpoint from their June 2023 meeting.
More than 900 experts and 1000 members of the public have written to CDC’s new director Mandy Cohen telling her that HICPAC decisions should be made by diverse stakeholders, including patients, healthcare union representatives, occupational safety and health professionals, aerosols scientists and disability groups”
Learn more
Listen to People’s CDC testimony at HICPAC’s June 2023 meeting (youtube link).
Read more Backgrounder on HICPAC and it’s proposed update by experts from National Nurses United and AFL-CIO
Article in the Daily Beast: CDC Mask Guidelines May Actually Imperil Frontline Workers