(Reuters) -The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is planning to reorganize its structure to prioritize public health needs and put less emphasis on publication of scientific papers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky is likely to name Mary Wakefield, former acting deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services in the Obama administration, to lead a team to help implement the restructuring, the report said, citing an agency official.
The CDC did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.
The steps follow an external review that Walensky had ordered in April against the backdrop of criticism over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the broad plan was short on specifics, the briefing document provided by the agency cited public guidance caused confusion, while important information were sometimes released too late to inform federal decisions, the report said.
To encourage faster communication, Walensky wants to create an online mechanism to share findings before they are completely published and expedite the data review process to match the needs of the emergency.
“In our big moment, our performance did not reliably meet expectations,” Walensky said, according to the report. “I want us all to do better, and it starts with CDC leading the way.”
(Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
