Feeling All the Effects

The Bush Administration has left Americans with more than just a war to resolve and a bad after-taste. According to Kim Krisberg. President's 2009 Budget Plan Would Set Health Programs Back. www.apha.org. March 2008., in 2007 Bush proposed and passed a budget plan that involved massive reduction in funding for the Center for Disease Control (CDC). As of 2009, the CDC's funding will take a massive cut of $412 million. A large portion of this funding would have gone towards helping in preventative care, such as for annual illnesses and HIV/AIDS.

The CDC gets most of the money used for research from Grants, about 85%. The money received from grants must be divided amongst current, relevant studies going on in America. The money is primarily used for statistics, research studies, and informative prevention. Now having to deal with a large funding reduction, the CDC may be faced with compromising progressive work in research. The research field for HIV/AIDS has been affected by the lack of funding. According to Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. CDC Needs Increased Funding For HIV Prevention Efforts, Advocates Say. www.thebody.com. May 13, 2008., the funding received from the government provides enough money for upkeep of HIV activity but not enough for monitoring of HIV. In other words, the new cases of HIV to the CDC are unknown and rising, particularly in people under 25. This is due to the lack of preventative information available, for awareness and safety, the CDC makes public with the knowledge of fairly accurate, current statistics on HIV/AIDS activity.

The CDC also provides funding, received from grants, for current studies on the condition of food. The CDC's studies can help the food industry by providing insight on possible food contamination, such as salmonella or ecoli. This information saves a lot of money for the food companies in call-backs and saves a lot of money in patient care. Research studies also help in alertness with annual illnesses such as the current Swine Flu epidemic. By increasing the funding for the CDC to at least what it once was would be a tremendous help for the Health Care fight in America.