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Scientists comment on Donald Trump appointing Robert F. Kennedy Jr as Health Secretary.
Prof Beate Kampmann, Professor of Paediatric Infection & Immunity at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), said:
“Health policies need evidence, not opinion. The appointment of RKJ is a slap in the face of evidence-based health policies, including those that have underpinned the use of safe and effective vaccines in the United States of America.
“During the 1950s an annual average of greater than 500,000 cases of measles and nearly 500 deaths due to measles were reported in the US. This picture changed completely since introduction of the measles vaccine: Measles vaccination has averted more than 60 million deaths worldwide in the last 25 years, including in the USA. Progress will be rapidly lost in societies where vaccine hesitancy is promoted – as I fear will be the case in the US if Kennedy is appointed.”
Prof Sir Andrew Pollard FMedSci FRS, Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, University of Oxford, said:
“At this point we don’t know if Robert F Kennedy will be confirmed as US secretary of health, and if he is, which policies he will pursue. However, there is a real concern that his appointment could provide a new platform which he might use to pursue the same anti-science positions on life-saving public health interventions that he has advanced previously, and that he could continue to promote and misrepresent evidence to support spurious claims on vaccines. If this makes families hesitate to immunise against the deadly diseases that threaten children, the consequence will be fatal for some.
“Today, vaccines prevent 3.5-5 million deaths per year globally, and even a small change in confidence will be a disaster for many families. However, US policy on immunisation follows advice from the expert Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices, ACIP, (equivalent to our JCVI in the UK), and vaccines are delivered by doctors who know how important is the shield that they provide to defend the population, which provides some mitigation against headwinds from Washington.”
Prof Sir Simon Wessely FRS, Regius Professor of Psychiatry, King’s College London, said:
“That sound that you just heard was my jaw dropping, hitting the floor and rolling out of the door. As someone who graduated from a Texas High School I have great admiration and affection for Americans. They deserve better, much better, than this”
Dr Krishanthi Subramaniam, Lecturer at the Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, said:
“The appointment of RFK as Health Secretary is alarming not just to the health of those living in the U.S. but also to everyone in the global community. Kennedy has a track-record of being a vaccine denier and has touted vaccine misinformation as scientific truth. This announcement may usher in a heightened period of vaccine hesitancy in the United States which would mean outbreaks of diseases that vaccines have kept at bay.”
Prof Johnjoe McFadden, Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, said:
“Trump’s appointment of RFK Jr as health secretary once again demonstrates his disregard for science in favour of pseudoscience, misinformation, and conspiracy theories. If he is confirmed, the policies he advocates could be a disaster, particularly for American children.”
Dr David Elliman, Consultant Paediatrician, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, said:
“The news that Donald Trump will be nominating Robert F Kennedy for US Secretary of Health and Human Services is very worrying. While RFK Jr’s desire to tackle chronic conditions, including obesity is commendable, how he might go about it is less clear.
“In his earlier days, he was an ardent conservationist, which is to be applauded. What is really concerning are his views on vaccination. He has perpetuated myths, including that of a link between MMR vaccine and autism, with an utter disregard for the evidence. It he is appointed and continues in the same mode, I fear not just for the vaccination programme in USA, but similar programmes around the world, and for healthcare, in general. Vaccination has probably saved more lives and is better researched than most, if not all, aspects of healthcare. JFK Jr could set this back and be responsible for the death and disability of myriads of people, particularly children.
“Let us hope that, if appointed, he adopts a more responsible attitude. Directing his energies to the ‘industrial food complex’ would be no bad thing, as would ensuring more transparency from pharmaceutical companies.”
Declared interests
The nature of this story means everyone quoted above could be perceived to have a stake in it. As such, our policy is not to ask for interests to be declared – instead, they are implicit in each person’s affiliation.