In The News: CDC Terminates Infection Control Advisory Committee

Healio reports the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has terminated the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC). The advisory committee had provided federal guidance regarding the prevention and control of health care-associated infections and the spread of antimicrobial resistance in U.S. hospitals. CDC established the committee in 1991.

HICPAC had been deemed “unnecessary” by the Department of Health and Human Services in its attempt to follow an executive order to identify “unnecessary government entities and federal advisory committees that should be terminated on grounds that they are unnecessary,” said a government spokesperson. However, infection prevention professionals asserted in a statement that HICPAC is a “critical asset to the nation’s public health infrastructure.” That statement went on to describe the committee’s termination as having created preparedness and response capacity gaps that would leave facilities vulnerable while emerging pathogens and antimicrobials resistance are on the rise.

Communications between the committee and CDC had strained following the change in administration. It stopped in February, and a scheduled meeting was canceled prior to an email being sent to committee members regarding the termination. Previously, HICPAC would meet three times per year to develop recommendations in addition to monthly meetings and communications.

Many individuals and organizations have begun outreach to elected officials in support of HICPAC and other advisory committees. Discussions are also ongoing on how organizations may be able to step into guideline vacuum created by the termination of an advisory committee.

PIDS member and PIDS liaison to HICPAC, Karen Ravin, shared, “For the past three years, I have had the privilege to serve as the PIDS liaison for the CDC’s Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC). Since its creation in 1991, HICPAC has performed a vital role in the development of infection prevention and control guidance to help keep healthcare workers and patients safe, including the use of personal protective equipment, isolation procedures, and hand hygiene. HICPAC was recently eliminated as part of the Trump administration’s plan to reduce the federal bureaucracy. At the time of the announcement, critical updates to key guidance documents were in progress and their future is now uncertain. The loss of HICPAC will have a profound impact on the safety of both patients and healthcare workers.”