Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said that the organization’s reaction to the Covid-19 outbreak was inadequate.
Walensky has started a reorganisation to respond to dangers to the public’s health more quickly.
The organisational changes are aimed at speeding up data exchange and simplifying public health recommendations.
According to an internal analysis of the organization’s operations published on Wednesday, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky is restructuring the organisation because she believes it didn’t act swiftly enough during the Covid outbreak.
According to a fact sheet, Walensky outlined many organisational reforms the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will implement over the ensuing months to address mistakes and errors that took place during the latter 2.5 years of the pandemic.
Walensky stated in a statement, “CDC and public health have been preparing for COVID-19 for 75 years, and in our big moment, our performance did not reliably meet expectations.” “My vision is for the CDC to adopt a new, public health action-oriented culture that prioritises accountability, collaboration, communication, and speed.”
According to the briefing document, the main goals of the reorganisation are to provide scientific findings more quickly and make it simpler for the general public to grasp health recommendations. After the enormous winter spike in illnesses caused by the omicron variation upended the country’s public health response, Walensky started the review in April.
Throughout the pandemic, the CDC came under fire for inconsistent public health advice and for disseminating data through retrospective reports too slowly compared to the virus’s quick spread. Public health professionals have expressed frustration over the use of data from Israel and the United Kingdom in briefings on the pandemic.
An executive will head a team that will execute improvements, according to Walensky. The CDC will also establish a new executive council, which will answer directly to Walensky, to decide the major priorities of the organisation, which will be supported by financial choices.
The CDC director will also get reports from the agency’s scientific and laboratory sciences divisions, which are critical to identifying and monitoring public health hazards like Covid.
The CDC is also establishing an equity office to guarantee that the agency’s personnel reflects the population of the United States and improves the dissemination of public health advice to all groups.
