The World Trade Center Health Program, currently serving approximately 80,000 workers and survivors sickened from 9/11 toxins, may be in danger due to the newest presidential budget proposal, writes Ginger Adams Otis in the New York Daily News.
Currently, the World Trade Center Health Program is part of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which is part of the Centers for Disease Control. The White House’s 2019 budget proposal moves NIOSH to the National Institute of Health, stranding the World Trade Center Health Program at the CDC.
NIOSH and the World Trade Center Health Program share a number of workers, including the head of the WTC program, who would all move with NIOSH and desert the recovery workers. Prescription programs and other contracts are also up for five-year renewals this year.
The original sponsors of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Reauthorization Act have written to protest these changes to Mick Mulvaney, who leads the Office of Management and Budget.
