If Trump entrusts RFK Jr. responsibility for health, prepare for a distorted reality in which health suffers around the world

A key figure in Donald Trump’s election campaign probable figure his recent administration includes Robert F. Kennedy Jr., or RFK Jr. for miniature. After abandoning his own attitude towards the president, this prominent anti-vaxxer supported and campaigned for Trump, helping him to victory.

Kennedy promoted the banner “Make America Healthy Again“during the campaign. Now Trump has made clear that Kennedy will play a significant role in health care.

He was promised “big role” in directing health policy, and Trump said he would enable Kennedy “go crazy” on health, food and medicines.

So who is Kennedy and what could his vision of a robust America mean for public health in the U.S. and around the world?

Who is RFK Jr?

RFK Jr was born into a eminent American political dynasty. He is the son of Robert F. Kennedy, who served as United States Attorney General under his brother John F. Kennedy, who was president. Robert F. Kennedy was then a senator before he was assassinated during his 1968 presidential campaign.

His son, RFK Jr, was a prominent and effective lawyer and environmental activist, helping litigate against corporations, including Montsanto AND DuPont.

However, over the last 20 years he has been better known for his involvement in various causes conspiracy theories and as main source of disinformation about vaccines dissemination on social media.

Kennedy recently said that “it isI’m not going to take away anyone’s vaccines“. However, he continues to make false claims about Covid-19 vaccines and promote false facts, if any, about vaccines and autism scientific consensus there is no causal relationship.

What role will he play?

While Trump has publicly pledged that Kennedy will play a major role, it is unclear what that role will be.

Based on video obtained by PolicyKennedy said he was promised control of federal public health agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services and its subagencies, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health.

Such broad powers would be unprecedented. Appointments to positions in major agencies and to positions in the U.S. government require congressional approval. Kennedy’s lack of experience in health care or public health, as well as his lack of scientific training and qualifications, make such approval tentative. His unscientific allegations will resurface and there will almost be a media circus.

Even if Kennedy had been in power, many changes to federal agencies would have required congressional oversight. For example, making any changes to the way drugs are approved would be arduous in the miniature term.

This is not to underestimate the damage Kennedy may have caused. In Trump’s past bypassed congressional approval to various positions by appointing ‘acting officials’. So even without an official position, Kennedy’s potential influence on the Trump administration is alarming.

More disinformation

No wonder Trump deemed Kennedy “health tsar” of his second presidency. They both spread disinformation about Covid-19 and promote unproven treatments, especially at the beginning of the pandemic. These include promoting hydrochloroquine (if there is robust evidence for it). toxic effect on the heart).

Kennedy uses the language of science to give an appearance of credibility. I promise return to health agencies “a luxurious tradition of evidence-based science of the highest standard” and “clean upagencies he accuses of corruption. He may withdraw regulatory inspections that protect Americans’ health from unproven treatments.

If Kennedy is to become health czar during Trump’s presidency, his platform to recruit Americans to his anti-science agenda will be greatly strengthened. Result? A very real threat of deterioration of public health.

The number of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable infections, such as measles, will boost.

Many Americans also grew up with fluoridated water and did not witness the effects of widespread tooth decay (cavities). So Kennedy may be in a good position to convince enough Americans that fluoridated water is risky and that fluoride should be an individual’s choice.

Governments and public health officials could face an uphill battle to keep fluoride in community water supplies, undoing one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.

If Kennedy’s anti-science claims gain traction, his legacy will be the opposite of the banner “Make America Healthy Again“. The health of the American public will decline, with far-reaching consequences for decades to come.

There are also global implications

The potential harm of elevating someone like Kennedy to positions of power and influence will not only affect Americans.

For example, following the visit of Kennedy and his anti-vaccine organization to Samoa in 2019, the deaths of two children have been misattributed for measles vaccination. Vaccination rates in Samoa dropped to 31% (half the previous rate), and another measles outbreak resulted in the death of 83 people.

Kennedy questioned whether the deaths were related to “defective vaccineand denied that he was involved in spreading disinformation.

One of the outstanding achievements of Trump’s previous presidency was Operation Warp Speedwhich has enabled the development, testing and mass production of Covid-19 vaccines at unprecedented speed, saving many millions of lives around the world.

If another pandemic breaks out in the next four years with Kennedy in the White House, it is unlikely that the United States will provide similar leadership.

Kennedy has been deeply critical of the development of a Covid-19 vaccine, including: in his best-selling 2021 book: The real Anthony Fauciabout the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Kennedy said Covid-19 vaccines had not been sufficiently tested and continued to advocate for disproven Covid treatments, particularly hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin.

On the podcast earlier this year, Fauci recalled a presentation Kennedy gave him on vaccinations. For 40 minutes, Kennedy “showed it slide after slide […] It didn’t make any sense.”

Later, Fauci spoke to Kennedy, saying:

Bobby, I believe you care about children and care about not wanting to hurt them. But you have to realize that from a scientific point of view, what you’re saying doesn’t make sense.

Unfortunately, in the distorted reality of the Trump administration with Kennedy at his side, truth and science may no longer matter. And the health of the world will suffer.