This spring semester, I had the opportunity to continue working as a Reproductive Justice Intern at the New Orleans Health Department (NOHD). The arrival of the new Trump administration in January brought changes for the NOHD and public health. On January 31, 2025, 3,000 national datasets were removed from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and other government websites, including several widely used national health surveys and data dashboards that inform research and policymaking. The datasets were taken down to comply with President Trump’s executive orders, which directed the federal government to recognize two genders, pause foreign aid efforts, and end diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. My supervisor, Meshawn A Siddiq, Deputy Director of NOHD, asked me to investigate the impact of removing these national data sets on public health.
The datasets that were removed relate to HIV/AIDS, vaccines, LGBTQIA+ health, COVID-19 (long-COVID-19), reproductive health, transgender and gender identity, diversity, equity, and inclusion, foreign aid, environmental justice, and emergency management. Many sources expressed concern over the erasure of data that had been gathered over the past decade. The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), a medical association, stated that access to these datasets is “critical to efforts to end the HIV pandemic.” Dr. Tina Tan, president of the IDSA, and Dr. Colleen Kelley, chair of the HIV Medical Association, emphasized that the removal of data “creates a dangerous gap in scientific information…to monitor and respond to disease outbreaks.” The elimination of this data has a significant impact on marginalized groups by widening the gap in the availability of limited data, making it more challenging to identify health inequities. Additionally, the CDC’s Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), a surveillance project that has collected data on maternal and infant health since 1988, has been suspended. The data is used to influence maternal behaviors and determine which groups of women and infants are at the greatest risk for health problems. The program will resume eventually, however, survey questions relating to race/ethnicity and other social determinants will no longer be permitted.
Researching the impact of removing national datasets has deepened my understanding of how federal policy can affect public health. This experience allowed me to observe the critical role that data plays in advancing health equity. Sources acknowledge that data is necessary to shape public health responses and protect marginalized populations. I have gained valuable insights into the connection between data accessibility and public health outcomes by researching this topic over the semester.
