Investing in Public Health Initiatives and Research

Congress should invest in programs and initiatives that are vital to enhancing public health, and research that improves our country’s health and well-being.

Why Action is Urgently Needed

Federal funding supports public health programs and research across the country. The agencies overseeing these initiatives include:

• The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is the lead public health service agency focused on health care quality, providing the evidence-based information needed by consumers, clinicians, health plans, purchasers, and policymakers to make informed health care decisions;
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) develops the expertise, information, and tools needed to protect the nation’s public health—through health promotion, prevention of disease, injury and disability, and preparedness for new health threats; and
• The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the nation’s medical research agency and supports research in every state.

Additional state and federal regulatory and legislative action are needed to improve safety and reduce injury and death from firearms, one of the leading public health issues in this country. In 2023, over 46,000 Americans’ deaths were firearm related, according to the CDC. ACP remains concerned not only about the alarming number of mass shootings in the country, but also suicides which are at a record high. These horrific events take a daily toll on our neighborhoods, homes, workplaces, and public and private venues.

Another important element in protecting public health is our ability to prevent diseases with vaccines. Unfortunately, incidences of vaccine preventable diseases are increasing in the United States, such as pertussis (whooping cough) and measles. 

ACP’s Position

Funding for these agencies will expire on March 14, 2025. For FY2025, it is critically important that AHRQ, CDC, and NIH are funded at the levels specified in the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill. Moving beyond FY2025, Congress must not only increase investment in these programs, but also protect their core missions of promoting public health and conducting medical and health services research. Congress can also take steps to enhance public health by reintroducing bills such as the Public Health Infrastructure Saves Lives Act, which would establish a CDC program to support state, local, and tribal public health departments’ workforce and systems resources to meet health threats. In addition, Congress should reject any efforts to eliminate agencies and offices such as AHRQ, the CDC’s Climate and Health Program, and the CDC’s Injury Center.

ACP calls on federal and state governments to take urgent and necessary legislative action to promote safe storage of firearms and provide access to safe storage devices for distribution in physician offices, hospitals and other locations. ACP has also developed a toolkit that physicians can use to advocate for action in their own states.

ACP remains concerned about the spread of disinformation and misinformation regarding vaccination and treatment and strongly supports using the best-possible evidence to guide medical care and public health policies. It is critical that policymakers and government officials understand the importance of vaccines, evidence-based medicine, and other ways that our public health infrastructure protects all of us.