U.S. public health policy is set to face unprecedented challenges with the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services, the world’s largest public health agency, and its $1.7 trillion budget, including the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.
Kennedy’s longstanding opposition to vaccines—a critical achievement in public health—is a clear indicator of his disregard for evidence-driven decision-making.
He has publicly doubted vaccines’ safety and efficacy, despite overwhelming scientific consensus on their role in preventing diseases and saving millions of lives. He believes adding fluoride to optimal levels in drinking water causes a litany of health problems (without providing evidence) even calling for water systems to stop adding fluoride (he calls it a poison).
See this Evidence Review documenting the clear scientific benefits of community water fluoridation: Community Water Fluoridation: An Evidence Review – Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health
He has spread several conspiracy theories including claims that Wi-Fi causes cancer and school shootings are caused by antidepressants. He believes, without evidence, that chemicals in water can lead to children becoming transgender; and that AIDS may not be caused by the HIV virus.
The Dangers of Implementing Project 2025′ Public Health Proposals – AZ Public Health Association
Kennedy’s reliance on personal beliefs rather than verified data could have serious implications for public health policies. The HHS is responsible for ensuring the safety and effectiveness of medical interventions and overseeing agencies like the FDA, CDC, NIH and CMS. With Kennedy at the helm, these agencies may face pressures to adopt policies grounded in ideology rather than science, endangering the progress made in controlling infectious diseases and advancing medical safety and public health standards.
For example, Kennedy (who believes “there’s no vaccine that is safe and effective”) would be in charge of appointments to the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, who sets vaccine recommendations for the CDC doctors and the general public. If confirmed, we can expect him to populate the ACIP with hand-picked anti vaccine zealots. As the head of CDC, he would be in the position to undermine the Vaccines for Children program. Even if congress doesn’t dismantle VFC, Kennedy would be in a position to over-regulate VFC providers to get them to quit participating in VFC. He has also pledged to suspend NIH research on cancer drugs and those for infectious diseases (e.g. vaccines) for 8 years while the NIH focuses on studying ‘chronic diseases’.
Not all of Kennedy’s ideas lack merit—his proposal to improve SNAP’s nutritional impact by limiting purchases to healthier foods is a reasonable initiative that could positively affect health outcomes for low-income families. Proposals like restricting sugary beverage purchases with SNAP benefits could help combat diet-related diseases (note, however, that HHS does not run the SNAP program.
RFK Jr. as HHS Secretary? Why It Could Mean the End of Evidence-Based Public Health Policy – AZ Public Health Association
At a time when public health needs strong, evidence-driven leadership, Kennedy’s history raises concerns. His confirmation will likely lead to policies that reduce trust in established health measures, with dangerous consequences for FDA regulations and the broader health and healthcare landscape among the HHS agencies and the American people.
Public health policy should be rooted in science, not ideology, and with Kennedy as Secretary of HHS, that foundation is at risk. Not just at risk actually. In peril.
AZPHA opposes Kennedy’s confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
