Advocates Call on Secretary Becerra to Intervene on Public Health Layoffs 

Layoffs of specialized STI and HIV workers begin this month despite exploding STI rates

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 13, 2023
Contact: Elizabeth Finley, efinley@ncsddc.org, (919) 749-7309 

Washington, DC – On Wednesday, the Partnership to End HIV, STDs, and Hepatitis released a letter asking Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to intervene before layoffs remove more than 700 disease intervention specialists (DIS) from local efforts to curb HIV, hepatitis, and rising rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).  

According to a new analysis from the National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD), Secretary Becerra could halt the job cuts – fallout from the June debt ceiling deal – by devoting $25 million in existing funds to protect critical, skilled positions from disappearing in the coming year. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) credits DIS for preventing more than half of potential syphilis cases in the U.S. 

“Our nation is on the brink of losing one of the most effective tools we have to fight record high STIs like syphilis – the highly trained workers who help protect communities and who stand between vulnerable people and infections like syphilis,” said David C. Harvey, executive director of NCSD. “Secretary Becerra must step in to make sure the nation doesn’t lose the professionals on the front lines of the fight against the epidemic of STIs.”  

The partnership, which includes the nation’s leading organizations focused on ending the epidemics of HIV, STDs, and hepatitis – AIDS United, NASTAD, the National Coalition of STD Directors, NMAC, and The AIDS Institute – highlighted the wide-ranging impact of these specialized public health workers in communities where they respond to outbreaks, monitor the spread of disease, and prevent STIs, HIV, hepatitis and tuberculosis.  

Read the Letter 

December 13, 2023 

Honorable Xavier Becerra
Secretary
Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Ave SW
Washington, DC 20201

Dear Secretary Becerra: 

The Partnership to End HIV, STDs, and Hepatitis writes to bring to your attention the effect that the $400 million rescission, enacted by the Fiscal Responsibility Act, will have on disease intervention specialists (DIS). The result of this rescission will be the layoff of 719 full-time employees in the next year and repercussions across the syndemics of HIV, STIs, viral hepatitis, and drug overdose. We write today to request that $25 million of this rescission be restored, in FY’24, to avert this loss. 

In November, the National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD) conducted a survey of all CDC DIS funding recipients to determine the impact of the rescission.1 The survey results and funding calculations indicate that, if the $25 million were provided in FY’24, it would provide sufficient funding to prevent layoffs in the next year. Additional funding will be needed in FY’25 and beyond to prevent layoffs in future years. According to the CDC’s own analysis, DIS averted more than half of the country’s potential congenital syphilis cases in 2020.2 

The loss of skills and knowledge among the workforce will cause sexually transmitted infection (STI) rates to increase, and contradicts the goals of the STI National Strategic Plan and the National Syphilis and Congenital Syphilis Syndemic Task Force. This workforce played a lifesaving role during COVID-19, were ready to help impacted communities respond quickly to last year’s mpox outbreak, and continue to help states combat rising rates of STIs, which have reached alarming levels. Congenital syphilis rates, in particular, have increased 959% since 2012. 

The effects of gutting this syndemic workforce extend well beyond STI prevention efforts; the rescission will also impact HIV, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, drug user health programs, state laboratories, and outbreak emergency response. In addition to the loss of DIS, without additional funding, reductions will also occur in the follow areas: PrEP navigators, surveillance staff, public health nurses, and public health educators working in HIV prevention, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, and other public health support staff. 

We urge you to devote $25 million to the DIS workforce to avert the layoffs. 

Thank you for your consideration. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Stephanie Arnold Pang at sarnold@ncsddc.org or 612-220-2446. 

Sincerely, 

Jesse Milan, Jr. President and CEO, AIDS United
Michael Ruppal, Executive Director, The AIDS Institute
Stephen Lee, Executive Director, NASTAD
David C. Harvey, Executive Director, National Coalition of STD Directors
Paul Kawata, Executive Director, NMAC

Cc: Mandy Cohen Kate Wolff Andi Lipstein Fristedt Debra Houry Jonathan Mermin Laura Bachmann Jeffrey Reczek Sean McCluskie Norris Cochran 

1 Surveyed jurisdictions (and respondents) included cities, territories, and states directly funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from all regions of the country. NCSD received data from 43 jurisdictions resulting in a 73% response rate across all 59 DIS Workforce Development grantees. 

2 “Performance Measures 2020: Potential Congenital Syphilis Cases Averted.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, Division of STD Prevention. Issued July 2022. 

Background: Recent STD Workforce Cuts  

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress allocated more than one billion dollars in funding to strengthen the public health workforce over a five-year period. Disease intervention specialists (DIS) are public health workers who do contact tracing, investigate disease outbreaks, and connect people to testing and treatment services. Three years into the five-year funding, $600 million has been invested to hire more than 3,000 community health workers who serve every state and local jurisdiction. During debt ceiling deal negotiations, Congress eliminated funding for the remaining two years, a total cut of $400 million and those 3,000 jobs.    

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