Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (or CDC) is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services based in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia adjacent to the campus of Emory University and east of the city of Atlanta. It works to protect public health and the safety of people, by providing information to enhance health decisions, and promotes health through partnerships with state health departments and other organizations.

The CDC focuses national attention on developing and applying disease prevention and control (especially infectious diseases), environmental health, occupational safety and health, health promotion, prevention and education activities designed to improve the health of the people of the United States.

Health protection goals

CDC is committed to achieving true improvements in people’s health. To do so, the agency is defining specific health impact goals to prioritize and focus its work and investments and measure progress.

Healthy people in every stage of life

All people, and especially those at greater risk of health disparities, will achieve their optimal lifespan with the best possible quality of health in every stage of life.

Start Strong: Increase the number of infants and toddlers that have a strong start for healthy and safe lives. (Infants and Toddlers, ages 0-3 years).

Grow Safe and Strong: Increase the number of children who grow up healthy, safe, and ready to learn. (Children, ages 4-11 years).

Achieve Healthy Independence: Increase the number of adolescents who are prepared to be healthy, safe, independent, and productive members of society. (Adolescents, ages 12-19 years).

Live a Healthy, Productive, and Satisfying Life: Increase the number of adults who are healthy and able to participate fully in life activities and enter their later years with optimum health. (Adults, ages 20-49 years).

Live Better, Longer: Increase the number of older adults who live longer, high-quality, productive, and independent lives. (Older Adults, ages 50 and over).

Healthy people in healthy places

The places where people live, work, learn, and play will protect and promote their health and safety, especially those at greater risk of health disparities.

Healthy Communities: Increase the number of communities that protect, and promote health and safety and prevent illness and injury in all their members.

Healthy Homes: Protect and promote health through safe and healthy home environments.

Healthy Schools: Increase the number of schools that protect and promote the health, safety and development of all students, and protect and promote the health and safety of all staff. (e.g. – healthy food vending, physical activity programs).

Healthy Workplaces: Promote and protect the health and safety of people who work by preventing workplace-related fatalities, illnesses, injuries, and personal health risks.

Healthy Healthcare Settings: Increase the number of healthcare settings that provide safe, effective, and satisfying patient care.

Healthy Institutions: Increase the number of institutions that provide safe, healthy, and equitable environments for their residents, clients or inmates.

Healthy Travel and Recreation: Ensure that environments enhance health and prevent illness and injury during travel and recreation.

People prepared for emerging health threats

People in all communities will be protected from infectious, occupational, environmental, and terrorist threats. Preparedness goals will address scenarios that include natural and intentional threats. The first round of these scenarios will encompass influenza, anthrax, plague, emerging infections, toxic chemical exposure, and radiation exposure. Increase the use and development of interventions known to prevent human illness from chemical, biological, radiological agents, and naturally occurring health threats.

Decrease the time needed to classify health events as terrorism or naturally occurring in partnership with other agencies.

Decrease the time needed to detect and report chemical, biological, radiological agents in tissue, food or environmental samples that cause threats to the public’s health.
Improve the timeliness and accuracy of communications regarding threats to the public’s health.

Event

Decrease the time to identify causes, risk factors, and appropriate interventions for those affected by threats to the public’s health.

Decrease the time needed to provide countermeasures and health guidance to those affected by threats to the public’s health.

Post-Event

Decrease the time needed to restore health services and environmental safety to pre-event levels.

Improve the long-term follow-up provided to those affected by threats to the public’s health.
Decrease the time needed to implement recommendations from after-action reports following threats to the public’s health.

Healthy people in a healthy world

People around the world will live safer, healthier and longer lives through health promotion, health protection, and health diplomacy.

Health Promotion: Global health will improve by sharing knowledge, tools and other resources with people and partners around the world.

Health Protection: Americans at home and abroad will be protected from health threats through a transnational prevention, detection and response network.

Health Diplomacy: CDC and the United States Government will be a trusted and effective resource for health development and health protection around the globe.

Structure

CDC is one of the major operating components of the Department of Health and Human Services. CDC’s major organizational components respond individually in their areas of expertise and pool their resources and expertise on cross-cutting issues and specific health threats. The agency comprises these major organizational components:

Office of the Director manages and directs the activities of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; provides overall direction to, and coordination of, the scientific/medical programs of CDC; and provides leadership, coordination, and assessment of administrative management activities.

The CDC is under the direction of Dr. Julie Louise Gerberding, M.D., M.P.H. Dr. Gerberding has been the director of the CDC since July 2002.[1]

Coordinating Center for Environmental Health and Injury Prevention

National Center for Environmental Health/ Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (NCEH-ATSDR) provides national leadership in preventing and controlling disease and death resulting from the interactions between people and their environment.

CDC performs many of the administrative functions for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a sister agency of CDC, and one of eight federal public health agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services. The Director of CDC also serves as the Administrator of ATSDR.

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) prevents death and disability from non occupational injuries, including those that are unintentional and those that result from violence.

Coordinating Center for Health Information and Services

National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) provides statistical information that guides actions and policies to improve the health of the American people.

National Center for Public Health Informatics (NCPHI) provides national leadership in the application of information technology in the pursuit of public health.

National Center for Health Marketing (NCHM) provides national leadership in health marketing science and in its application to impact public health.

Coordinating Center for Health Promotion

National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) provides national leadership for preventing birth defects and developmental disabilities and for improving the health and wellness of people with disabilities.

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) prevents premature death and disability from chronic diseases and promotes healthy personal behaviors.

National Office of Public Health Genomics provides national leadership in fostering understanding of human genomic discoveries and how they can be used to improve health and prevent disease.

Coordinating Center for Infectious Diseases

National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID) prevents illness, disability, and death caused by infectious diseases in the United States and around the world.

National Immunization Program (NIP) prevents disease, disability, and death from vaccine-preventable diseases in children and adults.

National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHSTP) provides national leadership in preventing and controlling human immunodeficiency virus infection, sexually transmitted diseases, and tuberculosis.

Coordinating Office for Global Health provides national leadership, coordination, and support for CDC’s global health activities in collaboration with CDC’s global health partners.

Coordinating Office for Terrorism Preparedness & Emergency Response provides strategic direction for the Agency to support terrorism preparedness and emergency response efforts.

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

NIOSH ensures safety and health for all people in the workplace through research and prevention.

Budget and workforce

CDC’s budget for 2008 is $8.8 billion. Today the staff numbers nearly 15,000 (including 6,000 contractors and 840 Commissioned Corps officers) in 170 occupations. Engineers, entomologists, epidemiologists, biologists, physicians, veterinarians, behaviorial scientists, nurses, medical technologists, economists, health communicators, toxicologists, chemists, computer scientists, and statisticians—to name only a few—each are dedicated to the pursuit of public health.

CDC is headquartered in DeKalb County, Georgia, but it has 10 other locations in the United States and Puerto Rico. Those locations include Anchorage, Alaska; Cincinnati, Ohio; Fort Collins, Colorado; Hyattsville, Maryland; Morgantown, West Virginia; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Spokane, Washington; and Washington, D.C. In addition, CDC staff are located in state and local health agencies, quarantine/border health offices at ports of entry, and 45 countries around the world, from Angola to Zimbabwe.

The work force is diverse and well qualified. More than a third of CDC’s employees are members of a racial or ethnic minority group, and women account for nearly 60 percent of CDC’s workforce. Nearly 40 percent of employees have a master’s degree; 25 percent have a Ph.D.; and 10 percent have medical degrees. The average age of a CDC worker is 46.
The CDC campus in Atlanta houses facilities for the research of extremely dangerous biological agents. This setting was well represented in the Dustin Hoffman film Outbreak, although the location depicted in the film was supposed to be the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases bio-research facility. The CDC labs also figure prominently in the book “The Demon in the Freezer” by Richard Preston and “Virus Hunter” by C.J. Peters, former head of the Special Pathogens Branch at the CDC.

The CDC also conducts the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the world’s largest, on-going telephone health survey system.[2]

CDC timeline

CDC Timeline

Data and survey systems

CDC Scientific Data, Surveillance, Health Statistics, and Laboratory Information.[3]

Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.[4]

Mortality Medical Data System.[5]