Will County health director: ‘Too early to tell’ impact of cuts to infectious disease funding

Although local health departments know they likely will be affected by the Trump administration ending federal grants supporting work to protect the public from infectious diseases, the exact effects may not be known for a while.

“At this point, it’s too early to tell if or how this will impact the Will County Health Department and the Community Health Center,” Elizabeth Bilotta, executive director of the Will County of Health Department, said Thursday afternoon.

The Illinois Department of Public Health was notified Thursday that the Trump administration will terminate federal grants nationwide that already had been awarded to support ongoing work on infectious disease prevention.

“We’re currently awaiting further information from the IDPH and other state agencies to determine the specific grants that would be impacted. In the meantime, we will continue to strive to provide stellar service to all our clients and the residents of Will County,” Bilotta said.

The action by the White House pulls back $125 million in funding for IDPH and 97 local public health departments, which IDPH had allocated for the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Disease program, according to a news release.

In addition to rescinding $125 million in previously approved investments, the Trump administration also is blocking $324 million for future work to prevent and treat infectious diseases in Illinois, IDPH said.

As originally passed, the bill would have provided up to $449 million in direct, long-term support for the state’s disease surveillance and vaccination work.

IDPH allocated the funds for technology to track the spread of diseases, investments in labs to test samples for infectious diseases, surveillance of wastewater, building the public workforce and strengthening local health departments.

“This decision to terminate already awarded federal funding will cause immeasurable harm and disruption to the health and safety of the people of Illinois and generate larger expenses in the long run,” Gov. JB Pritzker said in a news release. “The state of Illinois will do everything in our power to restore this vital federal funding and continue to invest in commonsense public health solutions to keep our state safe and healthy.”

“While IDPH has been preparing for anticipated federal budget cuts, the termination of this awarded funding will have a debilitating impact on our efforts to protect the health of Illinoisans,” IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said in a news release.