Essay Example on Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant Funding

Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant Funding Recommendations The Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant PHHSBG financially supports multiple existing programs and implements new programs if needed to aid in decreasing morbidity and mortality in fifty states two Native American tribes and eight United States territories The PHHSBG targets preventable risk factors infectious diseases chronic illnesses providing clinical services promoting environmental health raising health awareness among the public and much more Since its inception in 1981 the Centers for Disease and Prevention CDC receives this grant from the United States government annually This block grant achieves its objective via implementation evidence based interventions constant monitoring and evaluation of the programs assisted and focusing on the preventable risk factors such as nutrition tobacco smoking diet and exercise As of 2017 the funding for PHHSBG is distributed among myriad of causes The majority of the funding is spent on health care infrastructure 26 and educational and community based programs 20 The rest of the funding is divided among Nutrition injury prevention immunization and various other health topics The PHHSBG is a crucial stepping stone for various programs as it provides the financial footing to aid in evidence based interventions and health outcome changes With the help of PHHSBG funding there was 80 decrease in nosocomial infections in Hawaii by funding mandatory infection tracking and the Santee Sioux tribal reservations were provided with emergency services for the first time ever in the year 2012 

The funding is allocated annually in accordance to the current administration's budget plan On October 19th of 2017 the fiscal year budget under the current White House administration was passed by the Senate with 51 percent majority voting yes on the proposal The new budget plan will be effective through September 30 2018 This plan completely eliminates the Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant and implements a new block grant called the America s health According to the White House budget blueprint this grant of 500 million to the CDC increases the state and local government s flexibility on how the funds are utilized This new budget modification slashes about 1 53 billion 33 from the CDC federal funding according to the U S Department of Health and Human Services HHS These steep budget cuts has been criticized the former director of CDC Dr Tom Frieden who calls it a really bad idea He also notes the block grants have the tendency to be reduced periodically and the idea of more flexibility with no proper structure leads to inefficiency However the current CDC director Dr Brenda Fitzgerald appointed by the current President has not publicly criticized the new budget cuts as of yet As evidenced by the multitude of success stories showcased by the CDC the PHHSBG played a vital part in addressing and bridging the gap in the public health world The grant allowed the states to strengthen and implement programs ethically As mentioned earlier the objectives of PHHSBG helped address the disfranchised needs incorporate diversity in program planning underwent constant program monitoring and assessment to evaluate and make necessary changes if needed implemented and incorporated community data surveillance to study the trends and new obstacles All of which are core principle of Public Health Code of Ethics Erwin Page 69 As noted by Erwin et al the federal government plays a key role in the Public Health policy legislation Erwin Page 91 

As evidenced by the federal budget plan which was drafted by the Executive branch and approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate dictates how the state and local government should manage the public health issues Limited funding restricts various aspects of public health from funds to implement new programs maintain current programs public health education payment and training of the staff management of unpredictable disasters epidemics natural catastrophes and much more The program still has a chance of viability The other sources of support may be include but not limited to the support of the Elites having an identifiable victim public outcry and extended media coverage The Elites are those with social and political weightage that gives them more visibility and a stronger voice in the public Erwin Page 81 The passing of the budget was unanimously opposed by the Democratic Senators This can be used as an opportunity by the Democratic party to rile up its supporters spread the information regarding the need and use of the PHHSBG thus is turn expanding the public knowledge Having one identifiable victim may be hard as the PHHSBG covers multiple programs However having a celebrity voice their opposition can also help in the dissemination of the information Finally with the increased usage of social media and information being accessed in lightning speed the media has the power of reaching millions Erwin Page 82 This new wave of political podcasts such as Pod save America utilize humor and the use of simple English to inform the public of the government issues The local government agencies can collaborate with smaller local programs to expand funding and spread of the information