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Con gre s
informing heeI
'I Research Sei
Updated March 27, 2023
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
pandemic, the mpox outbreak, and other recent health
crises, 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 protect
America from health, safety and security threats, both
foreign and in the [United States]. CDC's mission extends
beyond addressing 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.
Organ zaton and Programs
Two features characterize CDC's mission and programs.
First, CDC programs tend to focus on prevention of adverse
health outcomes. Second, CDC programs promote health on
a population and community-wide basis. CDC is organized
into several centers, institutes, and offices (CIOs). Some of
these CIOs focus on specific public health challenges (e.g.,
immunization and respiratory diseases; injury prevention),
while others focus on public health capabilities (e.g.,
surveillance and laboratory services).
Activities
CDC CIOs administer programs focused on a wide array of
health topics, including infectious diseases, chronic
diseases, injury, disability, occupational health,
environmental health, and public health emergency
preparedness and response. Even with the range of topics, a
few key activities are common across CDC programs:
Technical Assistance to and Coordination with State,
Local, Territorial, and Tribal (SLTT) Public Health
Agencies. In the U.S. federal system, many public health
laws and programs are administered at the 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 placement positions within SLTT agencies.
Public Health Program Grants. In FY2019, CDC
awarded 5,010 grants totaling over $5.9 billion in
obligations (including research and program grants). Grant
recipients included SLTT governments, nonprofit
organizations, foreign governments and organizations, for-
profit organizations, and tribal entities. The majority of the
grants were awarded to government entities (66%), and
state government agencies accounted for 92% of such
grants. 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 governments
generally fund the programs and operations of SLTT public
health agencies. CDC administers many of its grant
programs with SLTT agencies as cooperative agreement
programs, where CDC staff have substantial involvement
with the grantee in program implementation. (Note: CRS
used FY2019 data, instead of more recent FY2020-FY2022
data, because the latter include substantial pandemic
supplemental funding).
Preventive health services. CDC funds several state-based
programs to provide preventive health services, such as
vaccinations and cancer screenings, generally targeted at
uninsured and underserved populations.
Surveillance. Public health surveillance is the ongoing,
systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of health-
related data essential to planning, implementation, and
evaluation of public health practice. CDC operates over
100 surveillance systems that collect ongoing data, which
typically do not include personally identifiable information.
Much of the data are collected at the SLTT level, and many
CDC grants support surveillance. These data help inform an
understanding of when, how, where, and to whom disease
cases and other health events occur.
Laboratory Science. CDC manages federal laboratories
that can perform specialized testing to detect new or
unusual diseases. CDC also oversees the Laboratory
Response Network (LRN), a network of laboratories at the
federal, state, and local level that can detect biological,
chemical, and other threats, including emerging infectious
diseases. CDC develops laboratory test kits, protocols, and
best practices, and distributes test kits and supplies to LRN
and other public health laboratories. Several grants can also
support public health laboratory operations and testing.
Surveys and Statistics. CDC also administers several
national health surveys, like the National Health Interview
Survey. CDC's National Center for Health Statistics is one
of 13 principal federal statistical agencies (or units).
Research. CDC employs researchers who inform the
science of disease prevention and health promotion. CDC
experts include epidemiologists, statisticians, laboratory
scientists, and infectious disease biologists, among others.
Many CDC research publications are published in the
agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. CDC also
awards some research grants and contracts to universities
and other research institutions.
Education and Outreach. CDC conducts education and
outreach to many audiences, including the general public,
clinicians, and public health practitioners, among others.
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