Dr. Seema Yasmin, Emmy Award-winning reporter, public health physician, and former CNN medical analyst, has issued a stark warning about the consequences of ongoing attacks on public health institutions like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In a recent Instagram post, Yasmin — who also trained as an epidemic intelligence service officer at the CDC — expressed her deep concern over the erosion of trust and support for America’s leading public health agency.
“I left my job as a hospital doctor in London to come to America because this was the premier place in the world to train as a public health physician. The CDC was the place on the planet that you would come to train if you wanted to be an epidemiologist, disease detective,” she shared, her voice breaking with emotion.
A comprehensive article published in the Washington Monthly says policies by the Donald Trump administration attack public health in America and have caused “large-scale death”.
The article cites Dr. Brooke Nichols, a professor at Boston University School of Public Health who oversees a running impact tracker, and states that the destruction of USAID and the various food and medical aid programs under its umbrella has already caused nearly half a million preventable deaths in the developing world.
“Trump’s destruction extends to domestic operations. In just seven months, he and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have significantly weakened the country’s public health system, moved to cut medical research at universities nationwide, and promised to cut Medicaid substantially,” the article emphasized.
Communities Hit the Hardest
Drawing from her frontline experience, Yasmin explained that weakened public health systems do not impact everyone equally.
“With each outbreak investigation, who is actually impacted? It’s always poor people, it’s always kids, it’s always Indigenous people, Black people, brown people, queer people,” Yasmin said.
She compared the issue to abortion bans, highlighting how wealth and privilege allow certain groups to access care, while marginalized communities bear the brunt of policy rollbacks.
“The whole point of public health systems is to protect the vulnerable,” she added.
A Voice Across Medicine, Media, and Advocacy
Dr. Yasmin’s career bridges medicine, journalism, and the arts.
She has authored ten books, including works on health misinformation, and has used her platforms in media and comedy to tackle complex topics with clarity and urgency.
As attacks on science and health infrastructure continue, her message serves as a reminder of what is at stake: not just institutions, but the lives of those least able to defend themselves.
