Much of the federal government's efforts to buoy lagging childhood vaccination rates have been run through the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy.

Summary

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to eliminate the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP) and dissolve the Office of Minority Health as part of a broader HHS restructuring that will cut 20,000 positions.

OIDP, key to vaccine promotion and HIV prevention, oversees programs like the national vaccine strategy and “Ending the HIV Epidemic.”

Its functions may be absorbed into a new agency, the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA).

The move raises concerns about public health impacts, especially amid declining vaccination rates.