It is rather laughable seeing Secretary RFK, Jr make statements about prevention.
After all, this is the guy who has helped hollow-out the CDC and our immunization schedule.
Secretary RFK, Jr Has No Idea What Prevention Looks Like
And yet, here he is, trying to take credit for helping prevent congenital syphilis by investing $4 million on syphilis testing.
The problem?
“Through the new initiative, HHS is directing funding to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of STD Prevention to increase access to point-of-care testing and treatment. HHS is providing approximately $3.25 million in supplemental awards to recipients of CDC’s Strengthening STD Prevention and Control for Health Departments cooperative agreement (PS19-1901) to expand access to syphilis point-of-care testing and link patients to care from August 2026 through February 2027. Awarded jurisdictions have been identified as experiencing a high burden of syphilis and congenital syphilis. Remaining funding will support national partners providing technical assistance and implementation support.”
HHS Announces $4 Million Initiative to Expand Rapid Syphilis Testing & Treatment to Protect Mothers and Babies
Although he calls it a new initiative, he is basically just funding CDC’s Strengthening STD Prevention and Control for Health Departments.
A program that was hurt by the DOGE/Kennedy cuts!
“Since January 2025, the new United States (US) administration has significantly altered the global health landscape through a series of policy changes and funding cuts. This includes the suspension of foreign aid assistance and the withdrawal of the US from the World Health Organization (WHO). These actions have halted life-saving work across the globe and have been challenged by multiple lawsuits. Additional domestic funding cuts to the US Department of Health and Human Services, including the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have threatened invaluable research and health promotion programs, globally. These policy and funding shifts have had – and will continue to have – drastic impacts on the field of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), threatening all research, development, and prevention efforts.”
Why STI Funding Matters
Specificially, we lost:
the STD Laboratory Reference & Research Branch (SLRRB), which did national laboratory surveillance/research for syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia - while the lab was restored, it isn’t clear that all employees returned
the Disease Intervention & Response Branch (DIRB), whose field experts embedded with health departments and investigated and responsed to outbreaks
STI research funding
CDC workers performing STI surveillance and disease-intervention activities, including many who worked with state and local public health departments
So, like much of what RFK, Jr does, he thinks he is doing a great job, but overall, he is really just making things worse.
“Think of them as the CDC’s zombie programs — they appear to be alive, at least according to legislation and congressional appropriations. But functionally they are dead or nearly dead, because the CDC experts who did the work were laid off by President Donald Trump’s administration or remain on leave — paid but not allowed to do their jobs.”
The CDC has zombie programs. Congress funds them, but few people are left to do the work
After all, it isn’t even clear how many workers are left to do anything with the money he has allocated to rapid testing to prevent congenital syphilis.
Lastly, CDC's dedicated STI budget was cut by $10 million in FY2026, from $174.31 million to $164.31 million—a 5.7% reduction.
And since RFK, Jr may have redirected an already-funded STI prevention appropriation, this $4 million likely doesn’t increase the 2026 budget…
What else?
Funding for STI prevention will be cut even further in 2027, with a 45% reduction in staffing capacity!
Bottom line - if RFK, Jr is truly interested in STI prevention, he would restore all public health funding, all departments, and all employees who were working hard to prevent and treat STIs and other public health problems.
More on Prevention Programs
Is It True That the Mennonites Haven’t Vaccinated Since 1796?
Updates to HHS Restructuring and Funding Cuts: Impact on State and Local Public Health
The CDC has zombie programs. Congress funds them, but few people are left to do the work
New CDC director acknowledges agency problems in first large staff meeting