Purpose
This Dear Colleague Letter provides an update to grantees about the impact of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 on funding to strengthen the Disease Intervention Specialist (DIS) workforce.
What you need to know
Dear Grantees,
We are writing to provide additional information on the impact of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 on the 5-year Congressional investment to strengthen the Disease Intervention Specialist (DIS) workforce. We can confirm that the last two years of funding is no longer available to CDC for jurisdiction awards. Funds previously awarded are not impacted.
We are aware of how critical this funding has been for our nation's programmatic response to infectious diseases, including sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and the effect the loss of these funds at this critical juncture will be to progress. Since receiving these funds, CDC and state and local health departments have worked tirelessly to plan, build capacity, and hire and train new employees. Collectively, we have all worked to make the most impact possible in bolstering a national STI infrastructure that had been eroded through a 46 percent reduction in per capita purchasing power over the past two decades.
What CDC is doing
The significant increase in incidence of STIs over the past eight years threatens the health and wellness of millions of Americans. Annual surveillance data, the STI National Strategic Plan and newly released Federal Implementation Plan, and other influential reports like the NASEM Report and the NAPA Reports, underscore that burden and impact. On behalf of our Center and Division, we can assure you that while we are grappling with this challenging news, we are doing what we can to continue to support STI prevention partners and pivoting to a new situation to the best of our ability. Our staff are assessing how this rescission will affect health departments, partner programs, and research activities. Once we have that information, we will share it with grantees and develop actions to mitigate the impact of this funding loss to the greatest extent possible.
We ask for your patience and flexibility. As a field accustomed to challenges, we know that our resilience will help us continue to advance the STI field.
Best regards,
Leandro Mena, MD, MPH, FIDSA
Director
Division of STD Prevention
National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Jonathan H. Mermin, MD, MPH
RADM and Assistant Surgeon General, USPHS
Director
National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention