Key CDC data on HIV and LGBTQ health resources no longer accessible online

By Dana Hull

 

Key information and datasets have vanished from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s websites, alarming epidemiologists, other scientists and concerned American citizens.  

On Friday evening US time, the CDC’s landing page for HIV data said “The page you’re looking for was not found.” Disparities known as the Social Vulnerability Index and Environmental Justice Index, as well as information about LGBTQ youth were also no longer accessible. 

 

Some scientists and members of the public had in recent days raced to download, save and archive various datasets, worrying that they would be removed. 

 

“The removal of HIV- and LGBTQ-related resources from the websites of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health agencies is deeply concerning and creates a dangerous gap in scientific information and data to monitor and respond to disease outbreaks,” the Infectious Diseases Society of America said in a statement on Friday.

 

“Timely and accurate information from the CDC guides clinical practice and policies, which are essential for controlling infections and safeguarding health,” said the group, whose members include doctors, scientists and public health experts who specialize in infectious diseases.  

Earlier this week, Charles Ezell, the acting director of the US Office of Personnel Management, instructed federal agencies to comply with an executive order signed by President Donald Trump called “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”

 

In his memo, agencies were instructed to “take down all outward facing media (websites, social media accounts, etc.) that inculcate or promote gender ideology.” They were also told to review agency email systems and “turn off features that prompt users for their pronouns” by Friday at 5 p.m. ET. 

 

McLaurine Pinover, a spokeswoman for the personnel management agency, said that guidance may have been misinterpreted to mean it would shut down government websites that were unable to comply. She added that the agency doesn’t plan to shut down websites to implement Trump’s executive order. 

 

Other government webpages, including at the US Census Bureau, went dark briefly on Friday before coming back online. Some census websites about sexual orientation and gender identity remained unaccessible late Friday.