RED ALERT
By PrEP4All
Share & Tag Key Senators NOW!!!
Last week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources, announced that he will appoint new members with a “clear mission” to the United States Preventive Services Task Force.
This meddling will threaten access to PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent HIV) and other lifesaving preventive services.
Congress must #StopRFK and #Protect USPSTF
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Background:
The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is a scientifically independent, volunteer panel of national experts in disease prevention and evidence-based medicine. In 2019, USPSTF gave PrEP a Grade A rating, requiring most insurance providers to provide PrEP care at no cost to consumers.
The New York Times reports, “Speaking at a congressional hearing, [Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.] accused the panel, the United States Preventive Services Task Force, of having been ‘lackadaisical and negligent for 20 years.’ He said he would appoint new members with ‘a clear mission,’ which he did not elaborate on.”
We’ve already seen the harm caused when RFK Jr. meddles with access to essential health services, from vaccines to Tylenol. Now USPSTF, along with evidenced-based preventive care, is firmly in his crosshairs.
This week, RFK Jr. will testify in front of key Senate committees, and we need to let our Senators know he must not be allowed to replace non-partisan career experts with members who will do his pseudo-science bidding.
SUGGESTED SOCIAL COPY: |
Suggested Tweets / Threads (≤280 characters)
Preventive services, including PrEP, are under attack as @SecKennedy threatens to replace career prevention experts with partisan, anti-science members. Our leaders in Congress must #ProtectUSPSTF #StopRFKJr. prep4all.org/protect-uspstf
Congressional Twitter Tags:
- Senate LHHS Approps Subcommittee:
- Capito (R-WV) - @SenCapito
- Baldwin (D-WI) - @SenatorBaldwin
- Senate Finance Committee
- Crapo (R-ID) - @mikecrapo
- Wyden (D-OR) - @ronwyden
- Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee:
- Cassidy (R-LA) - @senbillcassidy
- Sanders (D-VT) - @berniesanders
Suggested Instagram / Facebook Copy
Preventive services, including PrEP, are under attack as @SecKennedy threatens to replace career prevention experts with partisan, anti-science members. Our leaders in Congress must #ProtectUSPSTF #StopRFKJr. prep4all.org/protect-uspstf
Congressional IG Tags:
- Senate LHHS Approps Subcommittee:
- Capito (R-WV) - @SenCapito\
- Baldwin (D-WI) - @SenatorBaldwin
- Senate Finance Committee
- Crapo (R-ID) - @mikecrapo
- Wyden (D-OR) - @ronwyden
- Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee:
- Cassidy (R-LA) - @senbillcassidy
- Sanders (D-VT) - @sensanders
Read our organizational sign-on statement below and here (and your organization can still sign on by clicking here).
Don’t Let RFK Jr. Meddle with Evidence-Based Preventive Care!
The undersigned 29 organizations urge members of Congress to protect the integrity of the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) in upcoming hearings with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Last July, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Secretary intends to dismiss every single member of this essential advisory body, generating significant concern among preventive health advocates across the nation. Last week, those fears were renewed during a hearing in front of Congress, where Secretary Kennedy stated that he intends to appoint members with a “clear mission.”
As an independent panel of medical experts with practice experience in fields including behavioral health, family medicine, geriatrics, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, and nursing, the USPSTF has developed extensive evidence-based guidelines that serve as essential resources for primary care providers across the US. For decades, USPSTF has helped ensure that preventive services for cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular health, HIV, mental health, maternal health, and other conditions are appropriately provided to millions of Americans.
We ask that Congress use upcoming public hearings with the Secretary to (1) ensure that guardrails are put in place so that the Task Force remains made up of competent, unbiased professionals with deep expertise in primary and preventive care, and (2) ensure that the Task Force remains committed to a comprehensive, systematic review and careful assessment of the available medical evidences for publishing recommendations with opportunities for stakeholder input, and (3) press the Secretary to once again convene USPSTF according to its regular annual meeting schedule.
Let’s be clear: This task force isn’t political. It’s made up of volunteer scientists and doctors who review the evidence to determine what preventive services should be recommended for people at risk of developing conditions that cost lives and lead to increased costs for our healthcare system. Although the Secretary promised during his confirmation process to protect access to vaccines and not to impose his own views on the process for vaccine recommendations, the Secretary has already gone back on those promises by, among other things, dismissing all members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and installing replacement members who lack the necessary expertise to serve on that body, an action that a federal judge recently found to have been unlawful. Congress must act now to prevent the Secretary from similarly undermining the work of the USPSTF and threatening Americans’ access to an even broader array of evidence-based preventive care.
Also, given the Secretary’s previous statements about HIV which do not reflect the actual science, HIV stakeholders are particularly eager to see the USPSTF protected from bias and interference.
Please help us protect evidence-based preventive care in America.
Sincerely,
[Organizational list still in progress]
PrEP4All, Inc.
This action alert and social media toolkit was originally published by PrEP4Al.
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