Mobile Version - January - February 2021
From the Director - Dr. Jonathan Mermin
As I look back at 2020, I am reminded how our vocabulary changed. Some words became commonplace, like social distancing, lockdown, N95 mask, self-quarantine, and Zoom, not to mention spike protein, cytokine storm, multisystem inflammatory syndrome, and toilet paper hoarding. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic added to our vocabulary and changed the course of our lives. At the same time, the year experienced a national reckoning with racial injustice. Black Lives Matter and “I can't breathe” took on new meaning, representing a powerful social movement across the country. And history continued to be made even as we started this year, with the events at the Capitol Building turning our attention again to an attack on democracy.
In our work at CDC's NCHHSTP, we are aware of how commonly social and economic factors cause diseases to disproportionately affect certain populations. I am encouraged seeing so many public health professionals fighting for justice using the tools of public health. As CDC continues to respond to the pandemic, there are still many accomplishments in preventing and controlling other diseases.
Here are a few highlights in 2020 from CDC's NCHHSTP:
- CDC's Division of Tuberculosis Elimination (DTBE) and Tuberculosis Trials Consortium (TBTC), along with collaborators from the National Institute of Health's AIDS Clinical Trial Group (ACTG), announced the results of Study 31/A5349. This is the first new treatment regimen for drug-susceptible TB disease in almost 40 years.
- CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) released results from the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance (YRBS) and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data Summary & Trends Report.
- CDC's Division of Viral Hepatitis (DVH) published its 2025 Strategic Plan and a Vital Signs showing increases in hepatitis C infections across all ages, along with a MMWR on new hepatitis C screening recommendations for all adults in the U.S.
- CDC's Division of Sexual Transmitted Disease Prevention (DSTDP) released the Recommendations for Providing Quality Sexually Transmitted Diseases Clinical Services, 2020 and published the MMWR, Missed Opportunities for Prevention of Congenital Syphilis – United States, 2018.
- CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention (DHAP) published the updated and redesigned HIV Risk Reduction Tool and unveiled a treatment component of the Let's Stop HIV Together campaign, along with a new resource toolkit for healthcare providers.
- CDC published High Quality Care: Access and Delivery. Delivering high-quality and evidence-based prevention and care services is critical to achieving national goals for reducing HIV, viral hepatitis, STDs, and TB, and protecting the health of youth.
Syringe Services Programs: Technical Package
Recently, CDC collaborated with the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) to develop a new technical package for syringe services programs (SSPs). This new information provides evidence of the effectiveness of strategies and approaches to support successful planning, design, implementation, and sustainability of SSPs.