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Advocacy

As we reflect on CSTE’s advocacy work in the midst of a pandemic, it is clearer than ever that our voices in Washington are essential
to communicating the role that epidemiologists play in preventing, preparing for, and responding to public health emergencies. We
continue to combat a pandemic for which our country was unprepared, and we know that it will not be the last public health threat we
face—in fact, even now it is not the only threat. Yet, policymakers attempt to fight public health threats as they arise rather than building
sustainable systems that are capable of responding to whatever threat may emerge. Our voices are critical, both now and especially
outside of public health emergencies to advocate for a modern public health infrastructure. CSTE provides this essential voice for you in
Washington, advocating for funding and policies that support your work.

Even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic,
CSTE was busy in Washington. We launched
the Data: Elemental to Health campaign in 2019,
foreseeing an eventual public health emergency
that would overwhelm our fragile public health
data infrastructure. Together, with partners Erin Will Morton
APHL, NAPHSIS, and HIMSS, we embarked on Senior Vice President, CRD Associates
an important journey to secure $1 billion over 10 CSTE Advocacy Liaison
years to modernize data infrastructure at CDC. In
2021, we were joined by key public health partners
ASTHO, NACCHO, and Big Cities Health Coalition.
With our initial annual appropriations request of
$100 million, we aimed to build a foundation for data modernization that would withstand the test of time and provide public health
access to health care data in real time. The campaign achieved its first victory soon after, securing initial foundational funding of $50
million in fiscal year 2020 for CDC’s Data Modernization Initiative (DMI). With the onset of COVID-19 shortly thereafter, we quickly
understood that our needs were greater than we had anticipated, and we advocated for faster and bigger investments from Congress.