Large amounts of public information about HIV and health information for teens, transgender and LGBTQ+ people abruptly disappeared late Friday from the website of the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention as government agencies scramble to comply with directives from President Donald Trump.
The CDC's data directory, usually found at cdc.data.gov, was also pulled offline, with a message saying that it would be back online after it completed steps to comply with an executive order aimed at what the Trump administration calls "gender ideology and extremism." It did not say when the material would again be available.
"The website will resume operations once in compliance," it said.
The data purge drew outrage from health scientists, many of whom frequently rely on CDC data for research.
"The removal of HIV- and LGBTQ-related resources from the websites of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health agencies is deeply concerning and creates a dangerous gap in scientific information and data to monitor and respond to disease outbreaks," Colleen Kelley, chair of the HIV Medicine Association and Tina Tan, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, wrote in a joint statement.
The information removed includes key CDC public health communications, including information about diagnosing HIV, guidance on contraceptives for health care providers, and health disparities among LGBTQ+ people.
It also includes the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which monitors student health and risk behaviors, including sexual activity, nutrition and tobacco and alcohol use. It was developed by the CDC in the 1990s.
In 2023, for the first time, the survey asked students whether they identify as transgender -- potentially putting it at odds with the Trump administration's executive order stating that the government will recognize only two sexes.
Also offline was the CDC and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's Social Vulnerability Index.
"The removal of critical health information from governmental public health sites is chilling and puts the health of the public at risk," Dr. Richard Besser, a former acting director of the CDC and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, told POLITICO in a statement. "While it is natural for administrations to differ in terms of policies, it is highly unusual and should be unacceptable to hide important health information."