SALEM, Ore.-Governor Tina Kotek announced that Oregon will join Washington and California in the newly formed Western Health Alliance.
Governors Kotek, Gavin Newsom of California, and Bob Ferguson of Washington issued a joint statement announcing the alliance on September 3.
The alliance is intended to “help safeguard scientific expertise by ensuring that public health policies in California, Oregon, and Washington are informed by trusted scientists, clinicians, and other public health leaders,” according to today’s joint statement.
The three Western Governors formed the alliance in response to the recent firings of doctors and scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that they feel could undermine public health, including the dismissal of the entire Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in June.
One of the objectives of the alliance will be to strengthen public confidence in vaccines and in public health, according to the Governors.
“Vaccines are among the most powerful tools in modern medicine; they have indisputably saved millions of lives,” said Sejal Hathi, MD, MBA, Director, Oregon Health Authority. “That is why Oregon is committed, alongside California and Washington, to leading with science and delivering evidence-based recommendations that protect health, save lives, and restore confidence in our public health system.”
While the shared principles of safety, transparency, access, and trust form the foundation of the Western Health Alliance, each state will pursue and develop public health strategies based on individual state laws, geographies, histories, and peoples, according to the announcement of the alliance.
