Stephen I. Feller , 2025-05-07 17:39:00
Key takeaways:
- The Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee issued guidance on the prevention and control of health care-associated infections.
- In a statement, HHS said HICPAC was terminated because it was “unnecessary.”
The CDC has terminated an advisory committee responsible for issuing federal guidance on the prevention and control of health care-associated infections and the spread of antimicrobial resistance, HHS confirmed to Healio.
The decision to disband the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) was based on President Trump’s executive order to reduce the federal workforce, HHS communications director Andrew Nixon told Healio in an email Wednesday.
The CDC has disbanded an advisory committee that provided guidance on infection control practices in health care facilities. Source: Tada Images – stock.adobe.com
The executive order instructed advisors to identify “unnecessary government entities and federal advisory committees that should be terminated on grounds that they are unnecessary,” Nixon said.
“CDC is committed to maintaining the highest standards of infection control and will continue its mission to protect public health and collaborate closely with health care professionals and partners,” he said.
NBC News was first to report that the committee had been eliminated.
Established by the CDC in 1991, HICPAC was charged with updating guidelines and policy statements on infectious disease prevention in United States hospitals, according to the CDC.
Infection prevention and control professionals called on the CDC and HHS to reinstate the committee.
“HICPAC is a critical asset to the nation’s public health infrastructure. It provides evidence-based guidance that directly informs federal health care standards and protects both patients and health care workers across hospitals, outpatient clinics and extended care facilities,” the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) and Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) said in a joint statement.
At the SHEA Spring conference last week, attendees expressed concern about the future of committees and programs regarded as essential for patients and providers, including HICPAC.
“The decision to terminate HICPAC creates a preventable gap in national preparedness and response capacity, leaving health care facilities without timely, evidence-based and expert-driven recommendations at a time when threats from emerging pathogens and antimicrobial resistance are on the rise,” APIC and SHEA said.
[Editor’s note: This is a developing news story. Please check back soon for comments and reaction .]
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