This week, the Trump administration announced major changes to the Department of Health and Human Services, ordering that all federal health agencies pause external communications until Feb. 1. This includes press releases, health guidance, social media posts and website posts.
While most people probably don’t regularly rush to the HHS Instagram page on a regular basis, this pause actually has big implications and has many experts worried.
There are multiple agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and more. These organizations routinely put out press releases, reports and social media posts to make sure that the public, medical professionals and public health departments have the latest health information.
Not only does the communications pause make it harder for science and medical professionals to do their jobs, it also keeps crucial health information from the public, said Elisabeth Marnik, a scientist and science communicator based in Maine.
“Now, I know there have been statements that have said that [the agencies] will release critical health updates following some sort of review, but how that review process will look and how long it will take is unclear,” she said. “Will it be just delayed by a few hours, or would it be delayed by a few days? And depending on what that critical health update is, it could make a big difference.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t affect people in their day-to-day life,” said Katrine Wallace, an epidemiologist at the University of Illinois Chicago.
“The worst-case scenario is there’s some kind of public health alert that needs action from the general public,” Wallace added. “Good public health is invisible. When it’s working, you don’t notice it’s there. … When there’s something wrong is when you notice public health.”
There are a number of potential consequences the communications pause could have, and some of them particularly worry experts. Here’s what they say:
It could be harder to know about food recalls.
“These agencies routinely give us alerts if there’s a food recall, or new drugs or approvals, or drugs that get taken off the market,” Wallace said.
From cucumbers to ground beef to potato chips, plenty of foods have been recalled in the past year. Many people may not feel the direct impact of the communications pause until the next food recall, if there is a potential delay in notification, Marnik said. This is not guaranteed to happen, but it is a scenario that’s on experts’ minds.
For instance, if you don’t know that your eggs are recalled, you may unknowingly whip up an omelet for your family. “That information is really important for the consumer, so they can try to remove that food from their fridge if they have it,” Marnik said.
It’s also important for doctors to know about food recalls, Marnik explained. If a doctor doesn’t receive communication from the health agency about a recall, they won’t know to connect a sick patient’s symptoms to the food they ate, which could lead to a delay in care.
Information about public health threats could be harder to come by.
A communication pause really impacts any evolving news about public health threats, Wallace said. This includes updates on circulating illnesses like influenza, COVID, bird flu and more.
Wallace pointed to the patient who died of bird flu, the first in the U.S., earlier this month. “What happens if we have another [severe bird flu] case, like the one in Louisiana? That was a public health alert, right? And we wouldn’t find out about that if we didn’t have the CDC letting us know, so it’s a little scary.”
Additionally, people who regularly track influenza activity on the CDC website in order to make travel decisions, or track bird flu activity because they work with poultry, potentially won’t be able to access that information, Marnik said. Without that information, it could be harder to decide if it’s safe to visit a certain state.
The federal health agency communications ban is supposed to be end on Feb. 1, but “in talking to some people that are within the agency, they don’t really know what that means,” Wallace said. The ban could be totally lifted on that date, or just certain aspects of the ban — it’s not clear.
A freeze on meetings, communications and more at the National Institutes of Health could stall health research.
The Trump administration also announced a freeze on communications, hiring, travel and meetings at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). While all of the health pauses have concerned Marnik this week, she said the NIH news stressed her out the most.
“I don’t think most people understand what NIH does. … A lot of people, I think, think that the National Institute of Health just conducts their own research ― and they do conduct research on their own ― but their biggest job is to award grants to scientists and institutions across the whole United States, including some of our territories,” Marnik explained.
“The research that’s happening across the country on issues like childhood cancer and diabetes and lung disease and other cancers and kidney disease ― all those diseases that people want better treatments for and want to understand better ― all of that research is funded by the National Institute of Health, and that budget is set by Congress,” Marnik continued. “This freeze that’s happening at NIH includes the ability for them to review grants, and if they can’t review grants, they can’t award grants, and if those grants don’t get awarded, then there’s not money to do that research.”
Exactly how long the NIH freeze will continue isn’t known, but depending on how long it lasts, it could have big implications for scientists’ research and could even lead to job loss, Marnik added. There isn’t clarity on whether the NIH freeze is long-term or short-term, Wallace said, and it’s also unclear if there will be changes within the NIH system when the freeze ends.
You can still get public health news from your local health department.
“This will not affect local and state health departments. They are not under the purview of the administration, they’re state agencies,” Wallace said.
It’s a good idea to follow your state health department, your county health department and your city health department if you live in a city, Wallace added. “I’m in Illinois. I would still be able to go on [the Illinois Department of Public Health] website and the Chicago Department of Public Health website and see my local information,” Wallace said.
These local and state health departments generally have social media channels, a newsletter or a website where they provide up-to-date information, Marnik added.
“The quality of that information can vary depending on what state you’re in, but at least there is still some information,” Marnik said.
Your local health department should generally provide public health alerts that impact your town and data on influenza levels in your area, and some also provide COVID tracking information, noted Wallace.
You can also follow reputable science communicators and medical professionals on social media.
Social media is, of course, a minefield for misinformation. But many scientists and medical professionals have created social accounts where they can try to debunk misinformation and provide accurate updates to their followers. You can follow Marnik at @sciencewhizliz on Instagram and Wallace at @epidemiologistkat.
Additionally, the following creators have social media pages, websites and/or newsletters with reputable scientific and medical information:
Wallace’s closing message is not to panic. “Panicking about public health has never helped at any time,” she said.
“All you can do is remain calm and keep yourself healthy. If you’re worried about respiratory viruses, we’ve had four years of training on how to prevent them, right?” Wallace said.
You can get your flu shot, COVID shot and RSV shot (if you’re eligible), wear a mask in crowded settings and wash your hands with soap and water.
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“People feel out of control with this, but you are in control of yourself, your environment and how you protect yourself. And, of course, there’s information we would love to have right now, but we only can do what we can do, and what you can do personally is protect yourself,” Wallace said.
If you want to help propel change, you can also contact your elected officials “and make sure that our elected leaders know that we care about having access to this kind of information,” Marnik said.