The undersigned 29 organizations urge members of Congress to protect the integrity of the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) in upcoming hearings with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Last July, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Secretary intends to dismiss every single member of this essential advisory body, generating significant concern among preventive health advocates across the nation. Last week, those fears were renewed during a hearing in front of Congress, where Secretary Kennedy stated that he intends to appoint members with a “clear mission.”  

As an independent panel of medical experts with practice experience in fields including behavioral health, family medicine, geriatrics, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, and nursing, the USPSTF has developed extensive evidence-based guidelines that serve as essential resources for primary care providers across the US. For decades, USPSTF has helped ensure that preventive services for cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular health, HIV, mental health, maternal health, and other conditions are appropriately provided to millions of Americans. 

We ask that Congress use upcoming public hearings with the Secretary to (1) ensure that guardrails are put in place so that the Task Force remains made up of competent, unbiased professionals with deep expertise in primary and preventive care, and (2) ensure that the Task Force remains committed to a comprehensive, systematic review and careful assessment of the available medical evidences for publishing recommendations with  opportunities for stakeholder input, and (3) press the Secretary to once again convene USPSTF according to its regular annual meeting schedule.

Let’s be clear: This task force isn’t political. It’s made up of volunteer scientists and doctors who review the evidence to determine what preventive services should be recommended for people at risk of developing conditions that cost lives and lead to increased costs for our healthcare system. Although the Secretary promised during his confirmation process to protect access to vaccines and not to impose his own views on the process for vaccine recommendations, the Secretary has already gone back on those promises by, among other things, dismissing all members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and installing replacement members who lack the necessary expertise to serve on that body, an action that a federal judge recently found to have been unlawful. Congress must act now to prevent the Secretary from similarly undermining the work of the USPSTF and threatening Americans’ access to an even broader array of evidence-based preventive care. 

Also, given the Secretary’s previous statements about HIV which do not reflect the actual science, HIV stakeholders are particularly eager to see the USPSTF protected from bias and interference.

Please help us protect evidence-based preventive care in America.  

Sincerely,

[Organizational list still in progress]

PrEP4All, Inc.

African Network of Adolescents and Young Persons Development (ANAYD)

AIDS ACTION BALTIMORE

AIDS Alabama

AIDS Foundation Chicago

Association of Nurses in AIDS Care

AVAC

Chicago Women’s AIDS Project

COFI

Community Resource Initiative

Equality California

Five Horizons Health Services

GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality

HealthHIV

Illinois Commission on LGBTQ+ Aging and Long-Term HIV Survival

International Association of Providers of AIDS Care

Light Youth Group cbo

Majawie Safe Space NPO

National Coalition for LGBTQ Health

National Working Positive Coalition

Positive People Network Inc

Presbyterian HIV Network. PHEWA, Presbyterian Church USA

Shri Radheykrishna Oaj (AIDS Vaccine) Organisation

Silver State Equality

TaskForce Prevention and Community Services

TechnoDev Projects Nigeria

The Well Project

Treatment Action Group (TAG)

WashU