CDC Removed Info On Coughing And Sneezing From Ebola Q&A

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14. That's what the Surgeon General is for - and why it's important to get out the vote.

Republican obstructionists have blocked everything, including appointing a Surgeon General.

New England Journal of Medicine:

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe1412890?query=featured_home

Where Is the Surgeon General?
Gregory D. Curfman, M.D., Stephen Morrissey, Ph.D., and Jeffrey M. Drazen, M.D.
October 22, 2014DOI: 10.1056/NEJMe1412890

As an unchecked Ebola epidemic moves out of West Africa to touch the United States and the rest of the world, we should rightfully ask, “Where is the Surgeon General?” The answer is, quite simply, that we do not have one. We face a growing crisis of confidence in our ability to protect patients and health care workers, and the position of the chief public health officer of the United States remains unfilled.

How did this happen?

President Barack Obama nominated a highly qualified candidate, Vivek Murthy, to be the nation's next Surgeon General, but the nomination was not advanced to a confirmation vote in the Senate because conservative lawmakers and the National Rifle Association found his very reasonable views on firearm regulation unacceptable. A highly respected physician with impressive credentials who would have been an outstanding Surgeon General was turned away solely for political reasons.

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As the nation's principal public health official, the Surgeon General leads a 6500-member commissioned corps focused on the critical health issues we face. The U.S. Public Health Service is responsible for communicating important health information to the public — including, for example, information about influenza vaccination as we enter the 2014–2015 influenza season. Because the symptoms of influenza may closely mimic those of Ebola, we can expect confusion between the two diseases in the months ahead. Clear communication of accurate health information to the public, which is the job of the Surgeon General and the Public Health Service staff, will be vital.

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Democracy Now:

http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2014/10/23/ebola_czar_we_need_a_surgeon

Ebola Czar? We Need a Surgeon General
By Amy Goodman with Denis Moynihan

The United States now has an Ebola czar. But what about a surgeon general? The gun lobby has successfully shot down his nomination — at least so far.

The Ebola epidemic is a global health crisis that demands a concerted, global response. Here in the United States, action has been disjointed, seemingly driven by fear rather than science. One clear reason for this: The nomination of President Barack Obama’s choice to fill the public health position of surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, is languishing in the U.S. Senate. You would think that an Ebola epidemic would move people to transcend partisan politics. But Vivek Murthy, despite his impressive medical credentials, made one crucial mistake before being nominated: He said that guns are a public health problem. That provoked the National Rifle Association to oppose him, which is all it takes to stop progress in the Senate.

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