World Health Network

Dr. Mandy Cohen, Director CDC RE: CDC/HICPAC’s Plan to Weaken Guidance for Health Care Respiratory Protection and Infection Control Dear Dr. Cohen: We are writing to you as representatives of the disability community, which has borne the brunt the COVID-19 pandemic (Boswell et al, 2021)[1].

Did you attend or want to attend HICPAC’s August 22 meeting? Were you unable to provide comment due to time or space limitations? Join WHN this Thursday at 1 pm ET on Zoom to share your comments about infection control in healthcare with us. We will be recording these comments and offering HICPAC members the opportunity to access them should they desire. Your comments may also be shared publicly. By providing this space, we hope to ensure that more voices are heard on this critical topic.

It is well-established that N95s offer more protection than surgical masks against breath-emitted airborne pathogens [1] and wildfire smoke [2], which are micron-size fine particles. There is no scientific argument suggesting that surgical masks are equal to N95 respirator masks in protecting against wildfire smoke.

Recently, the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been meeting as part of a process to update infection control guidance for health care settings.

WHN Science Communications Cite In mid-XIXth century Vienna, Ignaz Semmelweis found that washing hands in obstetrical clinics drastically reduced mortality, and lost his life in the struggle to make doctors wash their hands. His contemporaries ignored his findings, and only decades later, when the germ theory of disease was accepted, doctors began washing their hands regularly. How many people lost their lives as a result?

WHN Science Communications Publication date: 12 June, 2023 Submission date: 12 June, 2023 Cite The COVID-19 pandemic has starkly illuminated an existent, yet often overlooked, chasm in our public health systems and governmental response: the shortfall of tangible operational capabilities, including delayed response times, lack of coordinated action, and failure to execute preparedness plans effectively.

As the COVID pandemic rages on, healthcare-acquired infections are harming, disabling and killing patients. At World Health Network, we want to draw attention to this issue. If you are interested in helping with this effort, please sign up below. This form is for advocates, patients, and healthcare workers. If you or a family member were infected with COVID and harmed by the absence of infection prevention measures in a healthcare setting, please say so.

WHN Science Communications Publication date: 23 May, 2023 Submission date: 23 May, 2023 Cite It’s been said that a smile is worth a thousand words. But in today’s world, the smiles of healthcare workers abandoning their masks on social media are chilling to those whose access to safe healthcare is thus denied. The removal of mask requirements in many healthcare institutions is causing infections with immediate and long term consequences due to the continued presence of the virus.

We here at the World Health Network are organizing to end the COVID-19 pandemic. As governments roll back their efforts and COVID continues to spread and mutate, we need all hands on deck to protect our communities. That’s why we’re launching a Weekly Action Team to help keep people safe. Around the world, groups are springing up to fight back against repeated, forcible infection in schools, workplaces, and medical settings. By joining the Weekly Action Team, you’ll support these efforts.

WHN Science Communications Publication date: 12 May, 2023 Submission date: 12 May, 2023 Cite The World Health Network (WHN) is urging governments not to let their guard down and to continue to protect everyone, especially vulnerable populations, with COVID mitigation strategies.