HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.
![handle is hein.crs/cnsfdsse0001 and id is 1 raw text is:
Congressional Research Service
Inforrning the legislative debate since 1914
S
Updated March 20, 2025
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
During public health crises like the Coronavirus Disease
2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) has served as a face of the
federal government's public health response. CDC's stated
mission is to protect America from health, safety and
security threats, both foreign and in the [United States].
CDC's mission extends beyond infectious diseases-to
preventing most of the leading causes of death, injury, and
disability, along with promoting health more generally.
CDC is based in the Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) and is a U.S. Public Health Service (PHS)
agency. The CDC Director also oversees the Agency for
Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a
separate operating division. For further information, see
CRS Report R47981, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC): History, Overview of Domestic
Programs, and Selected Issues.
History
CDC began as the Communicable Disease Center in 1946,
focused on assisting states and localities in controlling
communicable disease outbreaks. CDC's role expanded
over the decades to include programs aimed at disease
prevention and health promotion more broadly. In 1980,
when CDC was renamed the Centers for Disease Control
(after two prior name changes), its official mission was to
serve as HHS's focus for developing and applying disease
prevention and control, environmental health, and health
promotion and health education activities designed to
improve the health of the people of the United
States. Congress codified CDC's current name in 1992
(P.L. 102-531). Throughout the 20th century, CDC evolved
along with an epidemiologic transition, where the leading
causes of death in the United States shifted from infectious
diseases to chronic diseases and injuries. CDC also evolved
as public health experts and scientists identified the
preventable causes of a wide range of health challenges.
Organization and Programs
CDC focuses on supporting science-based disease
prevention and health promotion on a population-wide
basis. CDC is organized into 23 centers, institutes, and
offices (CIOs), some focused on public health challenges
(e.g., immunization and respiratory diseases; injury
prevention), while others focus on public health capabilities
(e.g., surveillance and laboratory services). CDC also
supports global health programs that are not a focus here,
see CRS In Focus IF11758, U.S. Global Health Funding:
FY2020-FY2023 Appropriations.
Core Activity Areas
CDC CIOs administer programs focused on a range of
health topics, including infectious diseases, chronic
diseases, injury, disability, occupational health, maternal
health, birth defects, environmental health, and public
health emergency preparedness. Even with the range of
topics, a few key functions are common across programs:
Support for Public Health Infrastructure. In the U.S.
federal system, many public health laws and programs are
administered at the state, local, territorial, and tribal (SLTT)
level. CDC provides leadership and coordination among
public health agencies across the country, along with
assistance in investigating and responding to health threats.
CDC administers several fellowship and workforce
programs to fund staff at SLTT agencies. CDC staff may
also take temporary positions within SLTT agencies.
CDC also awards grants to SLTT health agencies and other
partners. In FY2023, CDC awarded 6,982, grants totaling
over $12.6 billion in obligations, including $6.7 billion in
non-COVID related awards and $5.8 billion in COVID-
related awards (mostly funded by supplemental
appropriations). Recipients included SLTT governments,
nonprofit organizations, foreign governments and
organizations, for-profit organizations, and tribal entities.
The majority of the grant funds were awarded to
government entities (70%), and state government agencies
accounted for 85.4% of these funds. Some grants, such as
the Immunization Cooperative Agreement program and the
Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant
program, provide public health funding to all states,
territories, and selected local jurisdictions. Others provide
funding on a competitive basis to a subset of SLTT
agencies. Grants to SLTT health agencies generally fund
their programs and operations. CDC administers many of
its grant programs with SLTT agencies as cooperative
agreement programs, where CDC staff have substantial
involvement in program implementation and evaluation.
CDC also funds SLTT-based programs to provide
preventive health services, such as vaccinations and cancer
screenings, targeted at uninsured and underserved
populations. For example, CDC administers the Medicaid-
financed Vaccines for Children program (VFC), for which
CDC purchases childhood vaccines at a discounted rate and
distributes them to states, territories, and certain localities to
allow participating providers to furnish them at no cost to
eligible children. Roughly 52.2% of U.S. children are
eligible for VFC.
Science and Data. CDC conducts and funds research and
investigation into health challenges, generally with a focus
on how they can be prevented and controlled. Many CDC
research articles are published in the agency's Morbidity
and Mortality Weekly Report, in addition to other agency
journals. CDC also awards research grants and contracts to
universities and other research institutions. CDC-supported
research and science inform its other programs, such as the
public health interventions implemented in grant programs
or its health education and guidance.
https://crsreports.congress.gov](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/cnsfdsse0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)