Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

Like many of you, I’ve been following the flurry of executive orders, federal agency and department pronouncements, and policy changes coming from the new administration in Washington as they relate to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), as well as overall support for science and research.

To put it mildly, we are navigating new terrain. We’re facing serious challenges to longstanding efforts to remove impediments to health care access and to build and support a more expansive hematology workforce that better understands and reflects the patients it serves. Practices and policies that we may have (naively) viewed as largely settled are now under fire. Long-standing federal investment in research is increasingly in question, and projects that are perceived to include any consideration of DEI or to be unsupportive of the administration’s views on what it has labeled “gender ideology” are especially vulnerable. It also remains to be seen what impact new immigration policies may have on international collaboration among scientists and researchers and attendance at the ASH annual meeting.

Throw into the mix the fact that passions can run particularly high when we consider these matters in the context of health care and medical research, and we have an environment in which it can be difficult to see the path forward. But there is a path forward, and having the right mindset will be invaluable as we press on.

Let’s start with context and perspective. In terms of context, changes in policy or government activity are routine when a new administration takes office. Granted, what we are witnessing today strikes many of us as more disruptive, even alarming. That’s where maintaining a sense of perspective comes in; the long view can serve us well. Sweeping societal changes rarely unfold in a strictly linear fashion. There may be detours, defeats, setbacks, and recalibrations, but justice and fairness are powerful forces to contend with, particularly when it comes to health care. One only has to look back at movements such as women’s suffrage and civil rights to appreciate that lasting and meaningful societal change does not come easily or quickly.

It’s important to understand as well that much of what we are seeing on the policy front likely will be the subject of legal challenges, could take years to implement, or may not ever come to fruition. It’s worth noting that a federal funding freeze that the administration had announced in late January was rescinded within two days in the face of widespread outcry over its implications.

And that brings us to commitment. Our core values do not have their roots in politics, nor will they be abandoned by policy shifts. Remember ASH’s mission: “Fostering high-quality, equitable care, transformative research, and innovative education to improve the lives of patients with blood and bone marrow disorders.”

We’ve advanced that mission under multiple presidential administrations and Congresses, irrespective of the party in power. We will continue to do so. And ASH will not waver in its commitment to combating discrimination and fostering fairness in health care, nurturing a hematology workforce that is reflective of and better serves the larger population, and welcoming a wide variety of perspectives, experiences, and expertise to the fight against blood diseases.

We may have to consider new approaches and be more creative in how to advance those goals, but our work remains vital and necessary.

Rest assured that the ASH Executive Committee is monitoring developments to ensure that we address issues that are within ASH’s ability to control and/or partner with other groups to address matters affecting the broader scientific/medical community.