ICYMI: Senator Reverend Warnock Promotes Federal Investments in Public Health, Combating Maternal Mortality Crisis During First Official Visit to CDC

Senator Reverend Warnock visited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta to meet with top public health leaders and experts to discuss the CDC’s work to combat the maternal mortality crisis and invest in public health, as well as the Senator’s efforts to secure robust federal funding

Senator Reverend Warnock learned about CDC’s efforts to protect the nation’s public health in the CDC’s Emergency Operations Center and Insectary, and the importance of federal funding in keeping Georgia and the country safe from infectious diseases

Senator Reverend Warnock is pushing for fully funding operationsat the CDC for the next fiscal year, which includes $118 million for safe motherhood and infant programs

Senator Warnock led the charge to request full funding for the CDC in the annual government funding legislation

ICYMI from Georgia Recorder: Warnock meets with CDC leaders in push to increase federal funding for the public health agency

ICYMI from WSB-TV: Sen. Warnock tours CDC, shares concerns over ‘intolerable’ maternal mortality crisis in US

Senator Reverend Warnock to WABE: “Way too many women die just trying to bring a baby into the world. The folks at the CDC are on it, and what they need in this moment is support from the Congress”

Senator Reverend Warnock to Georgia Recorder: “The United States of America has the unenviable distinction of having our maternal mortality rates much higher than any of the other Western wealthy nations. It is particularly acute in the South. And for Black women, the rate is as much as three times the rate of their white sisters, even when they have the income and the insurance. That’s intolerable”

Above: Senator Warnock visits CDC for first time since taking office; photos provided by the CDC

Atlanta, GA — On Friday, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) visited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia for the first time as Senator to learn about the agency’s efforts to protect public health, including work to combat the maternal mortality crisis and how federal funding plays a role in keeping Georgia and the country safe from infectious diseases.

The Senator met with CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen prior to a tour of the facility to discuss their shared commitment to protecting the health and well-being of Georgians and Americans nationwide. At the Atlanta-based agency, Senator Warnock met with Chief Medical Officer Dr. Debra Houry and other leaders to learn about the agency’s readiness and response efforts for public health crises around the globe, efforts to combat the maternal mortality crisis, and to tour the Insectary where research includes studying mosquito-borne diseases.

As a champion for healthy mothers and babies, the Senator was particularly interested in mutual efforts to curb maternal mortality and support healthy women, mothers, and families. The CDC champions several programs geared towards building the national infrastructure for maternal mortality prevention, including Maternal Mortality Review Committees (MMRCs) and the Hear Her Campaign. Federal funding will support implementation of multi-level maternal mortality prevention activities in communities with a focus on the first year after a birth.

Senator Warnock also toured the CDC’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC), which serves as a location for public health experts to monitor public health threats daily and in real time to manage emergency responses to identified threats. These threats include natural disasters (like hurricanes), foodborne disease outbreaks, environmental emergencies, and infectious diseases.

In May, Senator Warnock sent an appropriations request to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education for Fiscal Year 2025 to urge fully funding operations at the CDC for $9.7 billion–including $118 million for Safe Motherhood and Infant Health programs being done at the CDC. This request supports increasing access to primary care and vaccines for at-risk populations, improving maternal health outcomes and supporting healthy families, and advancing research to combat the opioid epidemic.

See below coverage of Senator Reverend Warnock’s first official visit to the CDC:

Georgia Recorder: Warnock meets with CDC leaders in push to increase federal funding for the public health agency

June 28, 2024

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock met Friday with leaders of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of a push to bolster funding for the Atlanta-based facility.
Warnock’s visit, which was his first since taking office in 2021, featured stops at the emergency operations center and the insectary where research on mosquitos is all the buzz.
But discussing the CDC’s work on maternal health was the top priority for the senator during the visit. The agency’s budget request includes $118 million for programs addressing maternal and infant health, which represents about a $10 million increase.
“We have a crisis in our country. We’ve had it for a very long time. Way too many women die just trying to bring a baby in the world,” Warnock told reporters in brief remarks after his visit.
Last year, a report on maternal deaths in Georgia captured a 20% increase during a three-year period that included the first year of the pandemic. Many of the deaths were ruled preventable by the state maternal mortality review committee.
From a national perspective, a report released in May by the CDC found that the maternal mortality rate in the U.S. improved after spiking during the pandemic. But racial disparities in the U.S. maternal mortality rates continue to persist, with Black women dying at higher rates than white women.
“The United States of America has the unenviable distinction of having our maternal mortality rates much higher than any of the other Western wealthy nations. It is particularly acute in the South,” Warnock said. “And for Black women, the rate is as much as three times the rate of their white sisters, even when they have the income and the insurance. That’s intolerable.”
Dr. Debra Houry, the CDC’s chief medical officer, said the agency is working with hospitals to keep more moms and babies safe through perinatal quality collaboratives, but she hopes to grow the maternal and infant health programs to reach more people.

WSB-TV: Sen. Warnock tours CDC, shares concerns over ‘intolerable’ maternal mortality crisis in US

June 29, 2024

U.S. Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock visited the U.S. Centers for Disease Control headquarters in DeKalb County Friday, focused on solutions that could save the lives of new mothers and babies.
At the CDC, the senator promised more funding for the agency to help them fight the maternal mortality crisis across the United States.
Channel 2′s Linda Stouffer was at the CDC with Warnock, where he and Dr. Deb Houry, chief medical officer at the CDC, said more efforts to save more families were needed.
The senator toured the CDC with health workers on the front lines of the maternal mortality crisis.
“Way too many women die just trying to bring a baby into the world,” Warnock told Channel 2 Action News.
New data from the CDC shows that 22 mothers in America died for every 100,000 live births in 2022. That number was even higher for Black mothers, where 49.5 mothers died for 100,000 live births.
“For black women it’s as much as three times higher than white sisters, even when they have the income and insurance,” Warnock said. “That’s intolerable.”
Stouffer talked to Houry about a targeted program the agency wants to expand to improve maternal outcomes in the United States. “More hospitals, more states, so everybody has access to safe and quality maternal care. Save more moms, and have healthy babies,” Houry said.
Warnock is pushing for fully funding operations at the CDC for the next fiscal year, which would cost $9.7 billion, including $118 million for Safe Motherhood and Infant programs.
There are some signs of progress in the fight against maternal mortality in the U.S. The death rates for mothers have improved from the previous year, but are still considerably worse than in other developed countries.

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