‘SOS for Health’ Day of Action on Sept. 24th
MEDIA ADVISORY
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Health and public health workers all across the country are planning a nationwide day of action dubbed “SOS for Health” on Thursday, Sept. 24th. Participants will gather near the institutions where they work or study to take a stand against the Trump administration’s vast and systematic cuts to health care and its devastating assaults on health and health policy.
These assaults are happening across our public health and health care system. Anti-science attacks on vaccines as well as health misinformation and disinformation on an industrial scale are misleading Americans and harming our public health system. Medicaid funding reductions have put hospitals at risk of critical care cutbacks and even closure. Research and staffing cuts are jeopardizing both current and future care. Regulatory rollbacks are threatening women’s health, LGBTQ+ Americans, and immigrants. Meanwhile, everyday Americans are struggling to afford insurance and prescription medications. Health care providers, practitioners, and researchers are on the front lines of this crisis and will sound the alarm.
Please save the date and keep an eye on your inbox for more details in the weeks ahead. The SOS for Health day of action will feature local events organized and led by health leaders and public health workers. Below are quotes from some of the lead groups helping to organize the day of action.
“Day after day the attacks from Trump and his cronies are making our public health and health care system worse. It is time to stand up and fight back,” said Brittany Shanahan, Medicare for All organizer for Public Citizen. “Health and public health workers across the country are lending their voices to the effort. We must not only fight back against these dangerous cuts, we must forge the path towards the health care system we need – one that puts science and the safety of our communities first, fully funds public health efforts, and guarantees that everyone in the country can get the care they need when they need it.”
“People and communities across the U.S. are struggling to access and pay for the health care and public health services they need,” said Julie Scofield from Defend Public Health. “SOS for Health will shine a light on these struggles while showing gratitude for the workforce fighting every day to take care of people.”
“Health care professionals are seeing the consequences of these attacks every day in the exam room, in our hospitals, and in our communities,” said Meenakshi Bewtra, MD, PhD, MPH, and president of Doctors for America. “We cannot stand by while political decisions undermine science, restrict access to care, weaken public health, and put patients at risk. On September 24, health care professionals across the country will raise their voices to say clearly: our patients deserve better, our communities deserve better, and America’s health care system must put people, not politics, first.”
“As longtime public health workers, we are trained to respond to outbreaks, contain environmental hazards, and promote community well-being,” said Lili Farhang, co-director of Health in Partnership. “We were never trained to handle a federal administration actively dismantling the systems designed to protect and promote the public’s health. In this new reality, health professionals can organize to stop this abuse of power and take collective action to protect what’s needed for health. SOS for Health is an opportunity to do just that.”
“Reduced access to care; more sick children; more hospitalizations; and more preventable deaths – that is what the Trump administration’s actions are giving us,” said Georges C. Benjamin, MD, chief executive officer of the American Public Health Association. “We deserve better. SOS for Health is an opportunity for individuals across the country to recognize the challenges to good health and call for change, so everyone can achieve optimal, equitable health and well-being.”
“As Americans struggle with health care costs, the Trump administration is cutting coverage and care that help people access and afford health services,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of Families USA. “This assault on our health systems extends from massive Medicaid cuts, to letting individual insurance premiums double, to gutting health research and dismantling the public health system that ensures our food, water, and medicines are safe. Americans are alarmed and sounding the SOS about our access to vaccines, preventive care, coverage, and the health system we all rely on.”