FOR RELEASE:
February 28, 2013
CONTACT:
Scott Stephens
202-879-4734
sstephen@aft.org
Dangerous Cuts Would Devastate Public Health
WASHINGTON– Statement of National Federation of Nurses President Barbara Crane on the impact that across-the-board cuts would have on patients, families and communities:
“Nurses across the country are alarmed by the devastating affect sequestration will have on public health. These cruel and unnecessary cuts threaten the welfare of our patients, our families and communities. Congress needs to do its job and put an end to this manufactured crisis.
“The cuts we are facing are real, and they are dangerous. Cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would deny life-saving immunizations to 30,000 children and 20,000 adults. Medicare cuts would lead to 200,000 fewer health care providers on the job and healing patients.
“Approximately 424,000 fewer HIV tests could be conducted, which could result in increased future HIV transmissions, deaths from HIV, and costs in health care. Cuts to mental health grants to states would result in more than 373,000 seriously mentally ill adults and seriously emotionally disturbed children not getting needed mental health services. States will lose grants to help prevent and treat substance abuse, resulting in fewer admissions to treatment programs.
“The National Federation of Nurses urges Congress to take all appropriate steps to stop these cuts and protect America’s health.”
The National Federation of Nurses is a leading national labor union and collaborative voice for registered nurses. Our work is driven by the priorities of our members—nurses associations and the individual nurses they represent. NFN was founded in 2008 to provide a unique, more inclusive option for nurses and model for national unions. We are dedicated to respect for the members associations’ sovereignty, transparency and strong collaboration to meet the needs of nurses everywhere.