Q&A: A checkup with CDC Director Mandy K. Cohen, MD, MPH
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Key takeaways:
- The CDC has been trying to improve its health messaging to reach more people.
- The agency also has been making efforts to modernize public health data systems.
We checked in with CDC Director Mandy K. Cohen, MD, MPH, for an update on the agency’s efforts to modernize the nation’s disease surveillance and data systems and improve how the CDC communicates with the public and physicians.
It is all part of the CDC’s “Moving Forward” plan, which was launched in 2022 after a review initiated by Cohen’s predecessor uncovered issues in how the agency shared data, translated findings into policy and communicated with the public during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“CDC has done a tremendous amount of work to implement lessons learned over the past several years,” Cohen told Healio. “We are ensuring that we use data to drive action, are communicating simply and in a timely way, and delivering operational excellence as one team — no matter the health threat. I hope people are seeing CDC working differently. We are working every day to deliver on our mission to protect health and improve lives.”
Cohen’s emailed responses to our questions are below. We have added links to several new CDC initiatives.
Healio: How has the CDC approached its messaging around bird flu? How fine of a line is it between informing the public and causing alarm, and how does the CDC stay on the right side of that line?
Cohen: CDC along with our partners across the U.S. government are responding to the current outbreak of avian flu in dairy cows in the U.S. While the risk to the general public remains low right now, we are taking this very seriously.
We know that viruses like to change, so we are closely monitoring for any changes and providing regular updates on what we know, what we do not know and how we are working to learn more.
We know that dairy farms and farm workers are at highest risk, so CDC is working with farmers and agriculture partners to share information on how to protect against potential exposure. We are working closely with states, local agriculture and farm advocacy organizations to build trust, communicate risk and find ways to work together to monitor for and prevent human infections.
We are also using multiple systems to closely monitor for any signals of flu activity across the U.S., including wastewater testing, laboratory data, emergency department visits and our seasonal flu systems that can detect spikes in illness that may be unusual for this time of year. We are sequencing samples of the virus to monitor for any changes. Our ability to do this work is possible because of the decades of investments made in pandemic flu preparedness.
These sustained investments are an example of the importance of building core capacities like data, laboratory, readiness and workforce before an emergency occurs.
Healio: Recently, we’ve noticed some data that seem to have been released earlier than usual — for instance, the interim effectiveness data for the most recent COVID-19 and influenza vaccines. Is this part of a concerted CDC effort to publish data more quickly?
Cohen: CDC has done a lot of work to modernize our data systems to make good data available quickly. A few key achievements in the last year include expanding CDC electronic laboratory reporting, increasing the number of emergency departments that can provide syndromic data within 24 hours and growing the number of health care facilities that can send electronic case reports.
Modernizing our public health data systems and working to integrate public health data with the health care system will help us to be better prepared to identify health threats and quickly respond. We also need to ensure we are using data to inform action and give people clear advice to protect their health.
CDC has made investments across the country to help communities improve how they collect and use data to inform health decisions. CDC’s Overdose Data to Action grants, for example, provide funding to communities to collect more robust data on overdoses and use that data to make decisions on interventions that saves lives.
We are sharing our data in a way that helps people take actions to protect their own health. Last fall, CDC released combined respiratory virus data that included county level data on flu, COVID and RSV along with advice on how to protect against respiratory illness. This spring, CDC released a new HeatRisk dashboard that provides clear, color-coded heat risk information by zip code paired with advice on how to protect against heat based on the risk factors of the community.
Healio: Is the CDC a trusted messenger?
Cohen: Across all our communication, we are focused on giving people simple, actionable advice on how to protect their health. You can see this through CDC’s new website, which reduced content by 65% and was overhauled to make user-focused improvements including, more focused content, easier-to-scan pages and better navigation to highlight the information people need.
CDC is also working to make our guidance simple and actionable. Our updated respiratory guidance aligns simple actions that can be used to protect against COVID, flu and RSV. Our updated school guidance simplifies our recommendations across common illnesses with a clear focus on keeping kids healthy and in school.
Healio: How is the CDC working to better communicate with physicians?
Cohen: Protecting health is a team sport, and we need a diverse team of partners. There is virtually no aspect of public health we can do successfully alone. We must break down silos and find ways to work together on shared priorities, collaborative investments and aligned messaging.
When it comes to engaging trusted messengers, we know that health care providers are among the most trusted resources for health information. We regularly work with our health care partners to share information and hear what their needs are in delivering care. This partnership in health delivery and public health is critical.
Beyond health care, it is important that we have diverse partnerships and are getting health messaging out in accessible and creative ways, whether that is through businesses, local government, religious or community leaders or entertainers. Finding ways to make health messages engaging can help us reach more people.
Healio: What other issues are you working on?
Cohen: An internal priority for the agency is working to operate as one team, or one CDC. This means investing, innovating, improving in a disease-agnostic way that breaks down traditional silos and ensures we have strong core capabilities across the entire agency. These core capabilities include data, lab, communications, workforce, and readiness. We must have the resources and ability to deliver on these core capabilities no matter the health threat.
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