Tabak, Other Federal Leaders Meet with Vice President to Address Maternal Health
Photo: White House
Vice President Kamala Harris hosted a first-ever meeting with Cabinet officials and agency leaders to discuss maternal health on Apr. 13, during Black Maternal Health Week. The gathering was a follow-up to last December’s Maternal Health Day of Action, where Harris announced a historic Call to Action to improve outcomes for parents and infants in the U.S.
Harris gathered Cabinet representatives in the Ceremonial Room of the White House for a conversation about the draft White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis, the administration’s whole-of-government approach to addressing maternal mortality and morbidity.
NIH acting director Dr. Lawrence Tabak attended and shared NIH actions to improve the amount of research on maternal health as well as the diversity of researchers conducting the work. In addition to NIH, other agencies of HHS such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services along with Secretary Xavier Becerra were invited to take part. Agencies that may not have historically taken a leading role addressing the maternal health crisis were also included around the conference table.
Noting that it was the first time any administration had assembled such a group at the Cabinet level to address the issue as a national priority, Harris said the event was one of many discussions “we will have about how we can do better for the women of our country, for the children of our country, for the families of our country…We know this priority will have generational impact.”