On October 27, 1992, CDC's name was changed to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (with "CDC" still to be used as the
acronym). This change was enacted by Congress, as part of the
Preventive Health Amendments of 1992, to recognize CDC's leadership
role in the prevention of disease, injury, and disability. In
enacting this change, Congress also specified that the agency
continue to use the acronym "CDC" because of its recognition within
the public health community and among the public.
CDC's new name reflects the evolution of its mission since
1946 as an agency that provides science-based assistance to state
and local health departments in the control and prevention of
disease, injury, and disability. In 1946, the Communicable Disease
Center was created from the Office of Malaria Control in War Areas,
an agency that had been established in 1942 to limit the impact of
malaria and other mosquitoborne diseases on U.S. military personnel
training in the southeastern United States (1,2). The change in
name in 1946 reflected an assignment of responsibility for
assisting states with the control of a broader range of
communicable diseases.
In 1970, CDC was renamed the Center for Disease Control to
reflect responsibilities for noncommunicable disease problems. The
scope of mission expanded rapidly to include programs in areas such
as occupational and environmental health, family planning and
reproductive health, and chronic diseases. A major reorganization
of CDC in 1980, and its renaming to the Centers for Disease
Control, emphasized the importance of health promotion and
education in the agency's mission. During the 1980s, CDC redoubled
efforts to reduce the impact of smoking-related diseases, injuries,
and other problems, while facing the new challenge of the human
immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome epidemic.
Recent milestones in CDC's evolution include the creation of
centers for chronic disease prevention and health promotion and for
injury prevention and control. The National Center for Health
Statistics has also recently joined CDC. These changes underscore
CDC's commitment to the prevention of disease, injury, and
disability.
Reported by: Office of the Director, and Office of the Director,
Epidemiology Program Office, CDC.
References
Etheridge EW. Sentinel for health: a history of the Centers for
Disease Control. Berkeley, California: University of California
Press, 1992.
Foege WH. Centers for Disease Control. J Public Health Policy
1981;2:8-18.
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