Statement on CDC Workforce Cuts and National Asthma Control Program

April 4, 2025

FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA — Allergy & Asthma Network CEO Lynda Mitchell issued the following statement regarding the recent workforce cuts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and their adverse impact on the state of respiratory health in the nation.

Allergy & Asthma Network expresses deep concern regarding the recent workforce cuts at the CDC, leading to the disbandment of critical programs supporting respiratory health, such as the National Asthma Control Program (NACP). The NACP was created in 1999 to reduce asthma hospitalizations, morbidity and mortality, with the goal of improving asthma care, control and treatment.

Allergy & Asthma Network has worked with NACP for more than two decades to raise awareness of asthma as a chronic, yet manageable disease, giving tools to individuals and caregivers living with the condition. The NACP has played a pivotal role in advancing timely, evidence-based guidelines to healthcare providers and the public, ensuring access to quality care for all.

We are grateful to the leaders of this vital, CDC-funded program for their commitment to improving the quality of asthma care, asthma management in schools, and fostering policies to help reduce air pollution. Their work has resulted in a significant reduction in asthma prevalence and severity nationwide.

Representing the more than 25 million people living with asthma nationwide, we are dismayed at the sudden loss of a critical public resource for disease management as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) restructures how it addresses chronic diseases such as asthma, allergies, COPD and other immune-mediated diseases.

We urge the Administration to consider the impact this program has had on public health and ensure an expeditious, proper, well-equipped transition to mitigate gaps in public health education and access to care.