Congress: restore the CDC’s work on chronic disease prevention
May 2025
Big Cities Health Coalition (BCHC) joins nearly 70 organizations to reject the proposed elimination of CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
The President’s FY 2026 budget proposal would eliminate the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This proposal undermines the Secretary of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) stated goal to measurably reduce chronic disease in America.
CDC was originally tasked with the surveillance, detection, and prevention of communicable diseases, which were the most pressing public health issues of that time. It has since evolved to also address the nation’s current greatest public health challenge: non-communicable diseases. Chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, chronic lung diseases, stroke, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes account for seven of the 10 leading causes of death in America, and for more than 90% of our nation’s healthcare costs. Addressing these conditions must remain a core function at CDC.
The burden of chronic diseases is growing faster than our ability to slow it, putting an increasing strain on the health care system, health care costs, our productivity, educational outcomes, military readiness, and well-being. Investments in public health and prevention efforts are essential to improving the nation’s health status, reducing healthcare costs, and maintaining a strong, ready and productive nation.
The programs within the CDC’s NCCDPHP work with states and territories to prevent disease, detect it early, and manage it effectively – delivering measurable returns on investment while saving lives.
Eliminating the NCCDPHP would destabilize public health systems at every level and jeopardize decades of progress. CDC’s chronic disease activities and programs are crucial for state and local public health departments, to which 75% of all CDC dollars go, all of which play an essential role in protecting the public’s health in our communities.
We call on Congress to reject the proposed elimination of the NCCDPHP and ask instead that the Congress restore the programs that were previously eliminated, maintain the NCCDPHP and invest in chronic disease prevention at CDC. We also urge you to prevent any further delays, reductions, eliminations, and impoundments of appropriated funding for these programs. Our organizations stand with you in the efforts to build a healthier nation.
