By Dr. Lyndon Haviland

January 13, 2023

TheHill.com

The Agriculture Improvement Act, known as the farm bill, is up for renewal this year and lawmakers will soon debate whether to extend key provisions that currently help 34 million people suffering from food insecurity in America.  

But in today’s divisive political environment, where 15 voting rounds are needed to elect a Speaker of the U.S. House, the likelihood that our leaders will reach a consensus on this important legislation, sadly, seems entirely unthinkable. …

The bill’s current term, which expires later this year (unless Congress acts), has a total budget of $867 billion, where nearly 80 percent of it funds food stamp programs (now called the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP).  

SNAP is the most important tool we have in combatting America’s hunger crisis. But over the years, its inclusion in the farm bill has been at the center of an ugly tug-of-war between two fiercely divided parties on Capitol Hill. …

As Congress demonstrates where they stand when they debate and vote on this year’s bill, the health and wellbeing of millions of Americans hang in the balance. 

By Dr. Lyndon Haviland

December 16, 2022

TheHill.com

Once again we find ourselves on the brink of a government shutdown. As today’s deadline neared, Congressional leaders scrambled to pass a stopgap measure to keep the lights on for another week as they negotiate a bipartisan omnibus bill that would fund the government and advance key initiatives for the next fiscal year. 

The main sticking point centers on how much the U.S. should allocate toward domestic spending. A $26 billion stalemate stands in the way of both parties reaching a consensus, according to Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.). As lawmakers horse trade and deal make over the next week to avoid a repeat of what occurred in 2019, over a half-million homeless Americans — including many veterans — hope they won’t be a casualty of the current game of chicken taking place on Capitol Hill.

By Dr. Lyndon Haviland

November 24, 2022

TheHill.com

This Thanksgiving, college students across the nation are taking a temporary break from classes to celebrate at home with family and friends. Yet for students struggling with thoughts of suicide and other serious mental health issues, some may be told not to return to campus. … Congress has done little to provide funding to understand the stresses and challenges students are confronting. And many universities aren’t providing students the support they need to be healthy and resilient. 

U.S. Census Bureau data released this fall sparked national attention over the historic drop in U.S. child poverty statistics for 2021. Many believe these figures will climb again following the expiration of many pandemic stimulus programs. 

Still, lessons can be learned from these numbers regarding what we as a nation can do to lower the suffering millions of Americans face every day. The biggest one: The way we measure poverty in America today is horribly outdated and requires a serious overhaul. 

By Dr. Lyndon Haviland

9.21.22

TheHill.com

Nearly 50 years ago, President Richard Nixon organized the first White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health where he called on Congress to take action to address America’s hunger crisis. … The Biden administration is preparing to host a similar forum later this month — the first presidential-led initiative of its kind in nearly half a century — to solve this continuing problem. Yet today, we lack the same bipartisan commitment Nixon showed to make this moment count for millions of underserved Americans who face every day without enough food to eat.  … Ending hunger in America is within our reach. Statistics from 2021 prove it can be done. The only thing standing in our way is an expression of political will from both sides to get it done. 

By Dr. Lyndon Haviland

August 26, 2022

TheHill.com

Climate change, deficit reduction and Medicare reform were the headline achievements of President Biden’s landmark Inflation Reduction Act which the president has called “one of the most significant laws in our history.” … Passage of this law now brings renewed hope to Biden’s broader legislative agenda, especially in the field of public health. Part of that push involves an effort by the administration to tackle an issue that for years has disproportionately affected women, especially those of color: maternal mortality. Biden should be commended for focusing energy and federal resources to address it — but timing is everything, as they say, and Biden’s attempt to improve maternal health in America could not have come at a worse moment.

By Dr. Lyndon Haviland

July 27, 2022

TheHill.com

This weekend, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared monkeypox a “public health emergency of international concern.” That’s a rare designation from the WHO, one they’ve reserved to describe just two other diseases — COVID-19 and polio. Yet once again, the nation seems blissfully ignorant to the early warning signs of an outbreak that bears striking resemblance to the start of COVID-19 and the AIDS epidemic. …

If COVID-19 proved anything it showed that a piecemeal response to a global health crisis is a recipe for disaster. We need our elected leaders to step forward, declare monkeypox a national emergency, and announce a coordinated approach to confront it. We need more vaccines, more testing centers, more education and more funding. If we don’t act now, we’ll simply repeat the mistakes of the past. 

By Dr. Lyndon Haviland

July 13, 2022

TheHill.com

The ripple effects of the U.S. Supreme Court’s move to overturn Roe v. Wade are still being understood as the availability of abortion-related services diminishes rapidly across the country. One of many potential consequences of the court’s decision involves the health of all women, pregnant or not, who reside in nearly half the states that have either banned or significantly limited abortion rights or have similar laws in motion.  

Will an increasing number of medical professionals choose to work in pro-choice states, and cause a decline in the accessibility of medical authorities in states where abortion rights are restricted? As OB-GYNs consider moving across state lines, what impact would their departure have on the availability of general women’s health care in the communities they leave behind? 

By Dr. Lyndon Haviland

June 17, 2022

TheHill.com

The U.S. Senate reached a bipartisan deal to improve gun safety last weekend, representing the most meaningful legislative effort in over 30 years to curb the rising scourge of gun violence in America. The plan’s provisions won’t solve the nation’s gun problem. But it’s an important step in the right direction. …

By Dr. Lyndon Haviland

May 25, 2022

TheHill.com

The Biden administration is pulling every lever to expedite the delivery of baby formula across America. Invoking the Defense Production Act and sourcing supplies overseas through its “Operation Fly Formula” initiative will hopefully bring cans to store shelves over the next few weeks. For worried families, it can’t happen fast enough.  

But there’s the troubling fact that got us here: How could the closure of a single production plant trigger a national public health crisis and throw the entire food supply for millions of American infants into total chaos? And what’s being done to make sure it never happens again? …

Longer-term competition must be fortified so that the closure of one plant doesn’t put us in this same predicament again. At a minimum, we must have contingency plans in place to ensure ready food supplies exist so that American children are not at risk of dying from either unsafe manufacturing or faults in the supply chain.