A former official of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that large-scale layoffs may affect core functions

Us media reports that nearly a quarter of the employees of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have received layoff notices since the beginning of this year. According to several former officials of the center, large-scale layoffs will weaken the agency's ability to respond to public health routines and emergencies, and affect its fulfillment of the core function of protecting the public health of the United States.

The Hill Daily of the United States reported on Wednesday (October 15), citing data from the Federation of Government Employees, that the total number of employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at the beginning of the year reached more than 13,000. As of the latest round of layoffs last week, about 3,000 people have received dismissal notices, equivalent to about 23% of the workforce.

On October 10th, approximately 1,300 employees of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) received layoff email notifications, involving multiple departments such as the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology. Subsequently, the relevant authorities announced the revocation of some notices, and many "mishired" individuals will be recalled. However, there are still about 600 employees being laid off, involving key functional units such as the Washington office of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Xinhua News Agency quoted reports saying that several former officials of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who resigned or were dismissed expressed concerns over large-scale layoffs at the agency. Debra Horry, the former chief medical officer and deputy director of programs and science at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pointed out that if the agency continues to cut staff and resources, it will be difficult to ensure public health and safety.

"Looking at which departments have been abolished and which are still being downsized raises concerns about the way this institution operates." " According to Horry, the institutions that were cut from the CDC include the committee responsible for reviewing research, the ethics office responsible for reviewing conflicts of interest, and the Technology Transfer Office responsible for patent affairs. Some offices involved in public communication and policy-making have also been downsized, which makes it more difficult to convey health information to the public.

Dimitri Zaskarakis, the former director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said, "The silence and downsize of the CDC mean that we are neither capable of handling daily public health affairs nor able to respond to emergency public health crises."

A spokesperson for the US Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement on Wednesday that the recent layoffs were a "direct result" of the federal government's ongoing "shutdown", and all employees who received layoff notices were identified by their respective departments as "non-essential" personnel.