April 25, 2025
Addressing Health in Anxious Times
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Stan, Clarence, Barry, and the Health Chatter Team chat about how to address health in anxious times, and explore how uncertainty, stress, and societal challenges shape our public health infrastructure.
Join the conversation at healthchatterpodcast.com
Brought to you in support of Hue-MAN, who is Creating Healthy Communities through Innovative Partnerships.
More about their work can be found at https://www.huemanpartnershipalliance.org/
Research
A Climate of Uncertainty
- The United States noticed its withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO)
- On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14155, initiating the United States' withdrawal process from the World Health Organization.
- Eliminating DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility) programs and policies
- Executive Order 14173 directs federal agencies to eliminate all DEIA programs and policies and to terminate DEIA-related contracts
- Impacts Social Determinants of Health + Health Equity
- Foreign Aid
- Executive Order 14169 was signed to reevaluate and realign U.S. foreign aid, resulting in a 90-day pause on most foreign development assistance programs.
- This suspension includes funding for global health initiatives such as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which provides critical support for HIV/AIDS treatment worldwide.
- Risks spill over events in the United States
- Proposed Restrictions on Gender-Affirming Care
- On Inauguration Day, Trump signed an executive order that the federal government would only recognize two sexes, male and female.
- The Trump administration has proposed a rule to remove gender-affirming care from the list of essential health benefits under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace plans
- Mehmet Oz, the newly confirmed administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), is telling state Medicaid officials to stop covering gender-affirming care for transgender youth. Medicaid is the joint state-federal program that covers health care for people with low incomes, including 40% of minors in the U.S.
- Gender-affirming care is supported by major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychiatric Association, which all concur it is medically necessary and can be lifesaving care.
Funding Cuts & the Erosion of Infrastructure
- Restructuring of federal health agencies
- Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
- In March 2025, the Trump administration announced a major reorganization of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
- including the consolidation of several agencies into a new entity called the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA).
- This reorganization involves significant workforce reductions, with plans to lay off approximately 20,000 employees across HHS, including substantial cuts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
- USAID
- the State Department put all employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)—which receives roughly 60% of PEPFAR’s funds—on administrative leave
- The National Science Foundation
- NSF has awarded almost 50% fewer grants since Trump took office
- Fewer grant opportunities, especially for projects related to climate change, reproductive health, health equity, and social determinants of health
- Increased competition for remaining funds, favoring projects aligned with administration priorities—such as chronic disease over infectious disease, or individual responsibility over structural change.
- US National Science Foundation announces lowest number of Graduate Research Fellowship Program recipients in 15 years.
- Universities and Research
- Trump’s 2025 budget cuts include a targeted reduction in indirect cost funding to universities and research institutions
- Harvard
- The Trump administration sent Harvard a list of demands it said must be met, or risk losing some $9 billion in federal funding.
- Harvard's president rejected the administration's demands, saying they were illegal and an intolerable attempt to dictate "what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue."
- The administration responded within hours, freezing more than $2.2 billion in grants and multi-year contracts to Harvard, much of it intended for research on a wide range of subjects.
- Columbia
- The US government has begun slashing US$400 million in research grants at Columbia University over pro-Palestinian campus protests.
-
‘My career is over’: Columbia University scientists hit hard by Trump team’s cuts
What is being done and how can we address health during these times?
- Personal
- As health professionals, it can be hard to cope with this added stress on top of an already demanding career
- Do things that are good for your body and mind
- Stay active
- Spend time in nature
- Companionship of pets
- Stay connected to loved ones
- Be kind to yourself
- Get involved
- Contact representatives to support public health
- Apps like 5 Calls help make it easy to find your representatives and contact them about issues that matter to you
- Use your voice - even if it feels small
- Every time you push back against misinformation, whether in a conversation, a social media post, or with friends and colleagues, you’re making an impact.
- Support and Amplify scientists, experts, and public health communicators
Community
- Show up
- Lawmakers notice when people physically show up, whether at town halls, protests, or science advocacy events.
- One example? The Stand Up for Science rally
- The Hands Off protest across all 50 states with millions of people participating are now happening every other weekend
- Attend a town hall in your area and ask pointed questions
- Sign petitions and support legal challenges (many groups are fighting anti-science policies in court)
- Join a science advocacy organization like March for Science, Protect Democracy, or the Union of Concerned Scientists
- Build ‘Science Capital’ in Your Community
- Write an op-ed for your local paper about why research funding matters
- Start conversations in your workplace or community groups
- Engage young people: volunteer to talk about science at schools, libraries, or local events
Sources
https://www.axios.com/2025/04/15/trump-limit-trans-care-aca-plans-cms?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://www.axios.com/2025/01/21/trump-trans-rights-executive-order
https://www.cms.gov/files/document/letter-stm.pdf
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00812-x
https://www.npr.org/2025/04/15/nx-s1-5366009/nadworny-harvard-reax
