NIOSH stakeholders urge congressional protections
Organization’s future again of concern
Occupational health and safety researchers and educators are once again concerned that the CDC is meddling to the detriment of one of its agencies, NIOSH.
Charging that the CDC “continues to take aggressive administrative measures that are detrimental to the future of NIOSH, as the nation’s single occupational safety and health research training agency,” the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses (AAOHN) is one of the NIOSH stakeholders that has sent objections to congressional appropriations committee members as the FY 2006 budget process moves forward.
The protests by AAOHN and others, including the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) and the NIOSH Board of Scientific Governors, focus on increasing administrative costs charged to NIOSH by CDC, and appropriation of NIOSH employees by CDC, according to James McCoy, public policy and advocacy manager for AAOHN.
“Despite Congress saying to CDC to leave NIOSH alone, and that although it depends on CDC for funding it has to stay a separate entity within CDC, CDC is charging NIOSH huge administrative fees that have increased 17% over the last three or four years,” says McCoy. “And CDC is taking more and more NIOSH employees and making them CDC employees.”
McCoy and AAOHN president Susan A. Randolph met with NIOSH executive director John Howard in March to express concerns and offer support. “We’ve asked Congress and appropriations committee chairman [Ralph] Regula [R-OH] to make this a priority, why the CDC continues to meddle with NIOSH,” McCoy says.
Money away from research?
According to NIOSH’s Board of Scientific Counselors, an advisory panel, NIOSH’s annual budget has taken harder hits each year for business support costs. CDC manages NIOSH’s budget, and according to the advisory panel, the amount taken by CDC for support services increased from 4.3% in 2001 to 9.5% in 2002, 12.4% in 2003, and 15.6% in both 2004 and 2005. The panel says the increases are partly due to CDC’s taking on NIOSH procurement, grants functions, computer services, and budget executions.
In the current budget process, the Bush administration is seeking $100,000 less for occupational safety and health at CDC in 2006 than was in this year’s budget, and 189 fewer full-time positions for NIOSH. “As you know, the president’s budget request may change as we go through the full budget cycle,” points out Kathryn Harben, senior public affairs specialist for CDC. Congress ultimately will determine the CDC and NIOSH budgets.
Reorganization fears resurface
CDC director Julie Gerberding, MD, last year alarmed NIOSH stakeholders by announcing a reorganization plan that would have folded NIOSH into one of four coordinating centers. After that plan was announced, professional organizations representing occupational and industrial health, labor, and trade complained to Congress over what they perceived as a diminishing presence of NIOSH within the CDC. Congress instructed the CDC to maintain status quo in regard to NIOSH programs.
In keeping NIOSH’s budget a separate line item in the CDC budget for the current fiscal year, the Senate Appropriations Committee directed the CDC to make no changes to NIOSH’s current operating procedures and organizational structure, and to ensure that no funds or personnel are transferred from NIOSH to other components of CDC by means “other than traditional reprogramming of funds.”
AIHA: Remove NIOSH from CDC
AIHA president Donna M. Doganiero, CIH, has asked a subcommittee of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce to request the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study on the organizational structure of NIOSH, because AIHA “believes CDC does not have the capability to effectively oversee both the increased national focus on public health requirements and the numerous occupational health challenges this country is facing. Therefore, potential alternatives to NIOSH being a part of CDC should be considered.”
For more information, contact:
- Donna M. Doganiero, CIH, President, American Industrial Hygiene Association, 2700 Prosperity Ave., Suite 250, Fairfax, VA 22031. Phone: (703) 849-8888.
- Kathryn Harben, Senior Public Affairs Specialist, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta. Phone: (404) 639-7285. E-mail: [email protected].
- James McCoy, Public Policy and Advocacy Manager, American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, 2920 Brandywine Road, Suite 100, Atlanta, GA 30341. Phone: (770) 455-7757.
Occupational health and safety researchers and educators are once again concerned that the CDC is meddling to the detriment of one of its agencies, NIOSH.
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