Between Friday and Tuesday, essential resources from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other federal health websites began to disappear, raising alarms among healthcare professionals and researchers. This unexpected purge, attributed to recent executive orders from former President Donald Trump, has affected information critical to tracking, preventing, and treating HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and prescribing contraception. The CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a longstanding tool for assessing American youth's health, also remains inaccessible.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) website for the Office of Research on Women's Health saw significant reductions, including the removal of a portal dedicated to maternal morbidity and mortality. Moreover, a guide on gender-affirming care for young people vanished from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health’s website by Tuesday. The CDC and Census Bureau websites were among those most heavily impacted, as Harvard researchers scrambled to archive lost information through their first "datathon" using the Wayback Machine.
“Removing information that protects Americans is deeply disrespectful to the American kids who participated in these surveys, and it’s dangerous,” – Dr. Tom Frieden
The CDC's Social Vulnerability Index, which relies on Census Bureau data to assess vulnerability to natural disasters, was also taken down. Meanwhile, an NIH workshop from 2022, featuring discussions led by Nancy Krieger on the importance of considering sex-linked biologies and gender complexities in research, was scrubbed from the site. Krieger emphasized the critical need for historical data in scientific research.
“If you’re going to do replicable, reproducible science, you need access to the data. You need to have the data from the past,” – Nancy Krieger
The New York Times reported that approximately 8,000 pages across more than a dozen government websites were removed recently. Although some pages have returned, not all links are functional. Dr. Rachel Jensen, an OB-GYN from North Carolina, proactively downloaded CDC guidelines crucial for prescribing birth control and treating STIs, fearing loss of access.
“To think about an entire generation of doctors not having access to that information is frightening,” – Dr. Rachel Jensen
Dr. Katherine Lee echoed similar sentiments about the significance of these resources for American physicians.
“Having these resources and having them at my fingertips and having them developed by the CDC is something that makes me really proud to be an American physician,” – Dr. Katherine Lee
The executive orders triggering these changes mandated federal agencies to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and any references to genders beyond "male" and "female." This directive has prompted widespread concern among health professionals about its implications on public health.
“Suppressing or limiting access to facts weakens our ability to address urgent health challenges – from infectious disease outbreaks to mental health crises. Hiding the facts puts lives at risk.” – Dr. Tom Frieden
Dr. Tom Frieden, who headed the CDC during President Barack Obama's tenure, warned that such removals have international consequences and distort foundational scientific knowledge.
“This has international ramifications – it distorts the science base,” – Nancy Krieger
Despite these setbacks, efforts are underway to preserve vital data. Harvard researchers have been actively identifying vulnerable or removed websites for archiving purposes. Krieger highlighted their commitment to making this information publicly accessible.
“We were very busily identifying websites that were at risk or were taken down, to be able to look at them in the Wayback Machine – and we will be figuring out a way to make them publicly available as soon as we can manage,” – Nancy Krieger
As healthcare professionals grapple with these developments, their dedication to maintaining public health remains unwavering.
“That’s the way it was for us during Covid. Many of us went into overdrive – we care deeply about people’s health and we just do the work that’s necessary, whether or not it’s funded.” – Nancy Krieger