The AAP joined five other national physician groups in calling for the restoration of data and guidance to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) websites that were removed in response to executive orders issued by President Donald J. Trump.
The Jan. 20 executive orders directed federal agencies to remove messages that “promote or otherwise inculcate gender ideology” and to cease doing work that could be characterized as diversity, equity and inclusion. Subsequently, numerous pages were removed from government websites.
“The research, data and guidance on these webpages are widely used by the more than 600,000 physicians our organizations represent,” the statement reads. “Removal hamstrings our ability to provide factual, accurate information to the millions of patients our members serve. These resources are not just academic references — they are vital for real-time clinical decision-making in hospitals, clinics and emergency departments across the country.”
The statement was issued Thursday by the AAP, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Physicians, the American Osteopathic Association and the American Psychiatric Association.
The physician groups say the absence of data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sites “puts the health and wellbeing of patients at risk and makes it more difficult for physicians to provide quality care.”
“Restoring these guidance pages is a public health imperative,” according to the statement. “At a time when emerging infectious diseases, antibiotic-resistant infections and evolving treatment protocols require rapid dissemination of knowledge, the removal of these resources place undue burdens on physicians and endangers patients.”
In addition, public communications from the CDC, NIH and other arms of the HHS were paused Jan. 21 by acting HHS Secretary Dorothy A. Fink, M.D., until at least Feb. 1, pending review and approval by a presidential appointee. Some communications have resumed.
A banner atop the CDC homepage reads, “CDC’s website is being modified to comply with President Trump’s Executive Orders.”
“We urge Congress to ensure that the CDC, NIH and other public health agencies have the resources and ability to provide physicians and the public with the information they need to support the health and mental health of every person seeking health care in the U.S.,” the statement reads. “Further, it is critically important that federal health agency officials again be able to communicate freely with the public, as the ongoing communications freeze is exacerbating the challenges posed by removal of research, data and guidance pages from federal websites."
