Trump nixes CDC infectious disease advisory committee: Report

The Trump administration shuttered the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC), ending three decades of medical advice used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to NBC.

A handful of committee members said the CDC delivered the news about HICPAC’s termination to members Friday, NBC reported.

The termination took effect more than a month previously, on March 31, according to a letter reviewed by NBC. 

HICPAC has made 540 recommendations for infectious disease control, and 90 percent of its suggested measures were fully implemented by the CDC, NBC found. 

The committee provided best practices for preventing and controlling health care-associated infections. It shared guidelines on disinfection and sterilization, environmental infection control and hand hygiene in health care settings, among other areas of concern.

One fellow at the Infectious Diseases Society of America who joined HICPAC in January said the committee was close to finalizing new guidelines for airborne pathogens before the termination, NBC reported.

Government pages related to HICPAC have now been archived and will no longer be updated with new information. 

Officials said HICPAC’s termination falls in line with President Trump’s February executive order titled “Commencing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy,” which seeks to slim the federal workforce.

However, the agency was not explicitly listed in the order, although five advisory committees were named in the memo, outlining a set timeline for them to be shut down.

The CDC did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.