Groups Demand RFK Jr. ‘Immediately’ Restore CDC’s Axed Blood Division

— ASH, others warn of preventable hospitalizations and deaths for Americans with blood disorders

by Ian Ingram, Managing Editor, MedPage Today April 8, 2025

The American Society of Hematology (ASH) and nearly 100 other organizations blasted the dismantling of CDC’s Division of Blood Disorders and Public Health Genomics (DBDPHG) and called for its full restoration.

Nearly all staffers at DBDPHG — which works with states, patients, and providers to reduce the impact of serious blood disorders — were placed on administrative leave amid the mass layoffs and restructuring at HHS last week.

In their letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., ASH and 95 national and state organizations said “this abrupt action with no communication regarding plans for the future of its essential programs runs counter to your publicly stated commitment to addressing chronic disease in the U.S. We urge you to immediately reinstate this Division.”

The groups — which together represent more than a million Americans with hemophilia, sickle disease, thalassemia, and other chronic and acute blood-related disorders — said that care for Americans with serious blood disorders requires a strong and coordinated federal response, which DBDPHG provided.

Among other efforts, the division was responsible for the Sickle Cell Data Collection Program, which since 2015 has collected information on the roughly 100,000 Americans with the inherited and lifelong disorder to assess trends in diagnosis, treatment, and healthcare access.

“The CDC’s Division of Blood Disorders and Public Health Genomics is critical to care of people with blood diseases, and its elimination will have severe and irreversible consequences,” said ASH president Belinda Avalos, MD, in a statement. “If it is not restored, it will disrupt life-saving public health programs, halt critical research, and increase preventable hospitalizations, complications, and deaths. Its elimination runs counter to the Administration’s stated commitment to addressing chronic disease and we are urging immediate action to reinstate this Division.”

DBDPHG has also been involved in patient and physician education and awareness efforts on blood clots and thalassemia and runs key hemophilia programs.

“The Division’s work traces back to the 1980s’ tainted blood crisis, when an estimated 90% of the U.S. hemophilia population contracted HIV and/or hepatitis C through the use of plasma-derived clotting factor products,” the letter noted. “CDC investigators were the first to discern and warn of HIV’s transmissibility through blood.”

ASH said it would share the letter with key members of Congress as well.