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    1. Policy & Value-Based Care

    Senate HELP Committee to Hear DeSalvo’s HHS Nomination Thursday

    Aug. 5, 2015
    On Aug. 6, the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee will hold a hearing on President Barack Obama’s nomination of Karen DeSalvo, M.D. for Assistant Secretary for Health inside the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
    Capitol Building

    On Aug. 6, the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee will hold a hearing on President Barack Obama’s nomination of Karen DeSalvo, M.D. for Assistant Secretary for Health inside the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

    Within the federal government, DeSalvo has been working on multiple fronts: since January 2014, she has been serving as National Coordinator for Health IT and leading the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC); last fall it was announced that she would help lead the Obama administration’s response to a potential outbreak of Ebola; and since President Obama nominated her in May 2015, she has been the Acting Assistant Secretary for Health in HHS.

    When it was announced that DeSalvo would help with Ebola, and then again when she was nominated for the HHS post, there was confusion in the health IT industry on what her role would be at ONC. The agency maintained that DeSalvo would continue working on important policy issues at ONC— including remaining chair of the Health IT Policy Committee and leading its Interoperability Roadmap.  Nonetheless, during DeSalvo’s time away, ONC appointed Lisa Lewis, chief operating officer, as Acting National Coordinator for Health IT. According to ONC’s website, Lewis’ bio says she is currently Acting National Coordinator.

    Now, according to the Senate HELP Committee's website, it will decide on Thursday whether not it will nominate DeSalvo for the Assistant Secretary for Health position at HHS. If the committee approves her nomination, she'll likely get a vote by the full Senate, according to reports. 

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    According to an Oct. 10 press release, a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) finds that vaccines against 24 pathogens could reduce the number of antibiotics needed by 22% or 2.5 billion defined daily doses globally every year, supporting worldwide efforts to address antimicrobial resistance (AMR). While some of these vaccines are already available but underused, others would need to be developed and brought to the market as soon as possible. AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines, making people sicker and increasing the risk of illness, death and the spread of infections that are difficult to treat. AMR is driven largely by the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials, yet, at the same time, many people around the world do not have access to essential antimicrobials. Each year, nearly 5 million deaths are associated with AMR globally. Vaccines are an essential part of the response to reduce AMR as they prevent infections, reduce the use and overuse of antimicrobials, and slow the emergence and spread of drug-resistant pathogens. The new report expands on a WHO study published in BMJ Global Health last year. It estimates that vaccines already in use against pneumococcus pneumonia, Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib, a bacteria causing pneumonia and meningitis) and typhoid could avert up to 106 000 of the deaths associated with AMR each year. An additional 543 000 deaths associated with AMR could be averted annually when new vaccines for tuberculosis (TB) and Klebsiella pneumoniae, are developed and rolled out globally. While new TB vaccines are in clinical trials, one against Klebsiella pneumoniae is in early stage of development.
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