Trump cuts expected to have “severe” alcohol harm impact
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Job cuts announced last week by the US Health and Human Services department are expected to “severely” impact efforts to reduce record levels of alcohol harm.
“Without a doubt, alcohol prevention and regulation is being severely impacted by the firing,” Mike Marshall, CEO of the Alcohol Health Policy Alliance, told Alcohol Review.
“My understanding is that most alcohol-specific programmes have been dismantled but we will need to see, once the dust settles, what that actually means.”
US alcohol deaths were still up over 30% on pre-pandemic levels in 2022, falling from their peak of nearly 40% a year earlier, according to figures from the CDC, among the organisations facing job losses.
There has so far been no reliable breakdown of the details. The HHS said last week it expects to reduce its workforce by around a quarter to 62,000.
It is reported that staff from the Office of Smoking and Health are among those dismissed. ■