For decades, health policymakers have relied on a survey tool to get early awareness of emerging public health threats before they become full-blown crises. The results of those surveys have shaped policy on matters like fortification of foods and the need to conduct public awareness campaigns due to the millions who were found to be unaware that they had high blood pressure. That survey tool is NHANES, or National Health & Nutrition Examination Survey.
NHANES has played a pivotal role in shaping public health policy since the 70s, but something happened last year during the longest federal government shutdown that could lead to the demise of this alert system. During the shutdown, different federal departments had to categorize which of their workers were essential and which were nonessential. Employees deemed nonessential were sent home with the hope that once the shutdown ends, they would return to work.
However, the people in charge of NHANES didn’t return after the shutdown came to an end. It appears their roles simply vanished from the CDC’s employee list. Sean Hennessy, a University of Pennsylvania senior fellow who focuses on evaluating the real-world safety and effectiveness of prescription drugs, argues that the country is making a big mistake by dismantling the survey team.
He says without the survey data, policymakers will be steering health policy while blind, because a vital data source has been removed. Hennessy cites the current guidelines on seafood consumption by expectant mothers as having arisen after the NHANES data showed increasing levels of mercury among women within the childbearing age bracket. He also credits the survey for drawing attention to the notable levels of “forever chemicals” like pesticides, PFAS and flame retardants in Americans that led to federal control of those substances.
Hennessy makes a passionate appeal for Congress to intervene and save NHANES from being swept away. He cites the example of bipartisan congressional pressure that compelled HHS to reverse course on plans to end federal grants supporting substance abuse and mental health programs. This kind of united action by lawmakers, he says, is needed to save a health alert system that has served the country well for more than 60 years by providing data that is apolitical and hugely beneficial to shaping the policy direction of the country.
It remains to be seen how much traction the concerns of this health expert will gain on Capitol Hill and within the broader public domain. Without data-driven policy interventions geared at safeguarding public health, stakeholders like Astiva Health could see upward pressure on the premiums they charge as policyholders suffer from an increasing disease burden that could have been prevented had policymakers had appropriate data to steer health policy in the right direction.
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