Key points
- Health experts and Democrats have criticised Kennedy’s plans
- These cuts to staff threaten public health and food safety: Health expert
- The department’s 10 regional offices will be reduced to 5
ISLAMABAD: The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is set to lay off 10,000 workers and close entire agencies, including those responsible for managing billions of dollars in funding for addiction services and community health centres across the United States.
HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr (RFK) has criticised the department he leads as an inefficient “sprawling bureaucracy” in a video released on Thursday, where he blamed the department’s 82,000 employees for the decline in Americans’ health, according to the Washington Post.
“I promise you that we’ll do more with less,” Kennedy stated in the video, shared on social media.
This restructuring plan caps weeks of turmoil within the nation’s top health department, which has faced rumours of widespread layoffs, the cancellation of $11 billion in public health funding for cities and counties, a weak response to a measles outbreak, and controversial comments about vaccines from its new leader.
Painful period ahead
Kennedy warned of a “painful period” ahead for HHS, which oversees monitoring infectious diseases, inspecting food and hospitals, and managing health insurance programmes for nearly half of the country.
“Make Americans Healthy Again”
The department will downsize to 62,000 positions, cutting nearly a quarter of its workforce – 10,000 jobs will be lost through layoffs, while another 10,000 positions will be eliminated through early retirement and voluntary separation offers, which were promoted by US President Donald Trump’s administration.
Public health experts, medical professionals, current and former HHS employees, and Democratic lawmakers have quickly criticised Kennedy’s plans, warning they could have far-reaching consequences for millions of Americans.
“These cuts to staff threaten public health and food safety,” said Brian Ronholm, Director of Food Policy at Consumer Reports, in a statement. “They raise serious concerns that the administration’s promise to make Americans healthy again could become nothing more than an empty pledge.”
Reducing chronic diseases
But Kennedy, in announcing the restructuring, slammed HHS for its failure to improve Americans’ lifespans and reduce chronic diseases and cancer rates.
“All that money,” Kennedy said of the department’s $1.7 trillion annual budget, “has failed to improve the health of Americans.”
Federal health workers – stationed across the country at agencies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), both in Maryland – reported feelings of shock, fear, and anxiety spreading through their offices on Thursday.
Workers were not given prior notice of the cuts, several of them told The Associated Press, and many were uncertain whether their jobs were at risk.
“It’s incredibly difficult and frustrating and upsetting to not know where we stand while we try to keep doing the work,” said an FDA staff member, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. “We’re being vilified and handicapped, with this guillotine hanging over our heads.”
Planned reductions
The FDA’s job cuts are not expected to affect inspectors or those reviewing drugs, medical devices, or food, according to HHS.
However, the planned reductions are likely to cause delays in drug and medical device application reviews or missed deadlines, said Eva Temkin, a lawyer at Arnold & Porter who advises clients on drug and medical device applications. “There’s a real risk this could lead to delayed patient access to treatments,” she warned.
The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, currently an independent HHS agency with 1,000 employees, will be merged into the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to Reuters.
The NIH will experience staff reductions across its 27 institutes and centres.
“The only way to cut such a large percentage of our staff, alongside the 35 per cent cuts to contracting, is to drastically scale back what the NIH does across the board,” said Nate Brought, the recently departed Director of NIH’s Executive Secretariat.
Massive restructuring
As part of the restructuring, the department’s 10 regional offices will be reduced to five, and its 28 divisions will be consolidated into 15. A new Administration for a Healthy America (AHA) will combine offices focused on addiction, toxic substances, and occupational safety into one central agency.
The AHA will include the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
It will be divided into divisions such as primary care, maternal and child health, mental health, environmental health, HIV/AIDS, and workforce development, the department confirmed.
Further cuts
HHS also said it would merge the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality into a new Office of Strategy that will conduct research to inform Kennedy’s policies.
No further cuts are currently planned, the department stated.
‘Pretty Devastated’ The extent of the cuts and consolidation has gone far deeper than anticipated, said an NIH employee, according to Al Jazeera.
“We’re all pretty devastated,” said the staff member, who spoke anonymously for fear of retaliation. “We don’t know what this means for public health.”
Union leaders for CDC workers in Atlanta reported that they received notice from HHS on Thursday morning that reductions would mainly focus on administrative positions, including human resources, finance, procurement, and IT.
