The recent measles outbreak in West Texas highlights a significant public health crisis exacerbated by years of funding cuts to immunization programs. Declared eliminated in 2000, measles has resurfaced due to neglect in vaccination efforts and a decline in public trust in vaccines. Health departments, including in Lubbock, have struggled with limited resources to launch effective vaccination campaigns. Recent federal funding cuts, coupled with growing legislative efforts to ease vaccine requirements, further jeopardize public health and threaten to escalate outbreaks across Texas and beyond.
"We haven't had a strong immunization program that can really do a lot of boots-on-the-ground work for years," said Katherine Wells, the health director in Lubbock.
Health departments got an influx of cash to deal with COVID-19, but it wasn't enough to make up for years of neglect.
Recent cuts by the Trump administration have pulled billions of dollars in COVID-19 related funding - $2 billion of it slated for immunization programs for various diseases.
While Kennedy has said he wants his agency to prevent future outbreaks, he's also declined to deliver a consistent and forceful message that would help do so.
#measles-outbreak #vaccination-funding #public-health-crisis #immunization-programs #vaccine-hesitancy
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