On July 24, Austin Public Health unveiled a new map that illustrates the possible effects of federal funding reductions on neighborhood initiatives.
The news announcement states that external funding accounts for over half of the department’s budget. Since January, Austin Public Health has lost more than $10 million in federal grants, or 8% of its current budget, as of July 28.
Programs are at risk due to this financial cut, as explained in the StoryMap titled Your Health, Our Work: What Happens When the Work is Undone. Already, two COVID-19 funds for disease surveillance and vaccination initiatives have been canceled. The news announcement states that other initiatives, including future outbreak response, refugee clinics, mobile immunizations, and sexual health services, are in jeopardy.
According to Adrienne Sturrup, director of Austin Public Health, the programs are intended to stop the spread of infectious diseases and safeguard community health. We are cared for as individuals by our physicians and nurses. We are all taken care of by public health.
In an email, Austin Public Health spokesperson Alyssa Armstrong stated that possible federal budget cuts for HIV and STD clinics would result in fewer staff members and less access to reasonably priced testing. Residents of UT and the larger Austin area could be at danger as a result of these cuts.
According to Armstrong, college students are frequently among the most vulnerable age groups for STDs. Infections can spread undetected and have long-term health effects if testing and prevention programs like PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) are not easily accessible, reasonably priced, and discreet.
According to the news release, the Mobile Vaccination Program, which guarantees vaccination access to the Austin community and is particularly crucial for students who live in shared housing or attend big events, has already seen a halving of its workforce.
More immunizations are skipped and people are more susceptible to epidemics that can spread quickly in high-density settings like college campuses due to a lack of staff and fewer clinic opportunities, Armstrong wrote. Everyone is impacted when preventative services are compromised.
According to Sturrup, she thinks the map will show Austinites how much the neighborhood is protected by local public health services. She expressed her pride that it enabled the department to share a narrative with the public.
According to Sturrup, there are instances when we in public health become overly preoccupied with data and numbers. The opportunity to humanize public health is truly presented by this map. should remind everyone that, although we are concentrating on the money, it is still about (the) people.
