“Ill” Feelings About US Government Shutdown…

 

Even Mr. Teddy has "ill" feelings about the shutdown...

After hearing numerous reports on the US Government shut down I was shocked and somewhat concerned to hear that parts of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will be closed as a result of the shutdown.  I was aware that certain areas of the government were going to be closed including things like national parks, but had no idea that health organizations were going to be closed too.  As an aspiring health professional and someone with a strong interest in the well being of this nation, it is disappointing to hear about this part of the shutdown. 

I read an article online on CBS news where the authors were describing the impact of the shutdown on the NIH and CDC.  I found the entire article very informative, but there was one quote from a CDC director, Dr. Tom Frieden, that made me pause and think.  In the article Dr. Frieden stated, “I usually don't lose sleep despite the threats that we face, but I am losing sleep because we don't know if we'll be able to find and stop things that might kill people."  This quote stood out to me because without people constantly working on tracking outbreaks of diseases and foodborne illness, or even discovering new vaccines for the flu, everyone is at risk.  For the health and well being of this country, we need to have health care professionals, scientists in the lab and epidemiologists working round the clock.  Everyone who works for the NIH and CDC plays an important role in the prevention and cure for diseases. So I found it astounding when the article also mentioned that two-thirds of CDC employees are not working to help protect Americans from health threats, all because of the shutdown. 

After seeing documentaries on the Bubonic plague, Influenza of 1918 and even the fictional movie Contagion, I have come to realize how easy and rapid a disease can spread and re-emerge.  Tonight I go to bed a little unsettled and ill minded knowing that more than half of the CDC is not going to be working until the government reopens.  I hope and pray this shutdown does not produce bad outcomes in regards to the health of this country or lead to an epidemic, but only time will tell…