CDC Director Calls for Overhaul of Public Health Data Collection
Federal, state and local authorities must do a better job of exchanging crucial health information. Rochelle Walensky says a new bill could help.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta.
Photographer: Elijah Nouvelage/BloombergThe emergence of Covid-19 exposed the limitations of the American public health system — particularly its ability to collect and share data quickly. As daily cases rose to hundreds of thousands nationwide, information about who was being hit hardest — and later, who was getting vaccinated — was scattered across local health systems, causing confusion and hampering efforts for a swift, equitable national response.
Mounting frustration over delayed reporting of infections and deaths have, over the years, prompted calls for a better, more centralized data collection system, in real time — and an overhaul of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.