Known anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was appointed lead of the Department of Health and Human Services by President Donald Trump. With a long history of publicly making false medical claims, including linking the cause of autism to vaccines, Kennedy now holds the power to impose his medical beliefs on the whole of America through the United States’ top health agency with his “Make America Healthy Again” campaign.

As reported by Kennedy himself, Trump allegedly also promised him control over other major health-related agencies, “The key that I think I’m – you know, that President Trump has promised me – is control of the public health agencies, which are HHS and its sub-agencies, CDC, FDA, NIH and a few others, and then also the USDA, which is – which, you know, is key to making America Healthy.”

What Does This ‘MAHA’ Campaign Entail?

Food & Nutrition

Kennedy advocates for the elimination of ultra-processed foods that have been altered to contain chemicals, dyes like Red No. 3, and added fats, sugars, and starches. The first report from the MAHA commission, which was released earlier this year in May, noted that nearly 70% of the calories consumed by children in the U.S. come from ultra-processed foods. Kennedy has said he plans on creating regulatory reforms that aim to create revised dietary guidelines and phase out food alterations like synthetic dyes.

Furthermore, he called out the nutrition department at the Food and Drug Administration for lack of transparency and action on food safety, stating, “There are entire departments, like the nutrition department at the FDA … that have to go, that are not doing their job.” He has pledged to take control of the agency and fire any employees that are contributing to a “corrupt system”.

Kennedy also advocates for holistic health approaches and drinking raw milk. Raw milk has been connected to outbreaks of bacteria born illness, including a strain of E. coli that can cause kidney failure. Raw milk is also associated with high levels of bird flu, which has spread to over 1,000 herds of dairy cows in the U.S. since March of last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Vaccines & Drug Research

Despite his involvement with Children's Health Defense, a leading anti-vaccine group, Kennedy denies the claim that he is “anti-vaccine”. On the contrary, he has repeatedly raised safety concerns for vaccines and has taken to starting investigations into vaccine injuries and prescription drug use, revising CDC recommendations, revising childhood vaccine schedules, supporting moves for changing vaccine policy, and making changes to who is a top vaccine official at the FDA.

He lists a goal of his as ensuring all vaccine studies are made public and individuals are given a choice on which vaccines they want to take. Though he may not be taking away vaccines for all, making vaccines for children a choice rather than mandatory creates major issues for the safety herd immunity provides children.

Furthermore, he is in support of half of the research budget from the National Institutes of Health being directed towards more preventative and holistic approaches to health.

Chronic Disease

The MAHA commission released a second report this month detailing ways in which they intend to decrease cases of chronic disease such as introducing new guidelines for food and pharmaceutical advertising and new research. The report names ultra-processed food, chemicals in the environment, childhood vaccines, and even overreliance on digital devices as the cause of chronic diseases.

Unfortunately this latest report does not include a budget or hold many concrete policy reform ideas to be implemented. It seems to list goals but have no solid plans of action. Kennedy says “The next stage of this process is to come up with policy recommendations for the president, and then we’ll spend the next four years implementing those policy recommendations.”

Additionally, the negative effects of pesticides relating to chronic diseases have been a huge focus of Kennedy’s, though this report does not carry much information on any advancement plans for decreasing use or recommending alternatives.

Autism

During a Cabinet meeting that took place in April of this year, Kennedy announced a major study that will aim to uncover some of the causes of autism, promising, “By September we will know what has caused the autism epidemic and we’ll be able to eliminate those exposures.” Though we have reached the month of the deadline, we have yet to hear any updates on what he has found.

Though scientists have concluded autism to be linked to genetics and the rise in cases due to increased awareness, in the past both Kennedy and Trump have shared their belief of autism being caused by childhood vaccines.

Flouride

Fluoride is added to local water systems for more than two thirds of Americans. Despite several studies and scientists providing evidence that this is safe, Kennedy has made the claim that "Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease.”

In an interview with MSNBC, he said that he believes "fluoride is on its way out” and that it “will disappear."

Given control over several of America’s top health agencies, Kennedy is sure to make sweeping changes that adhere to his beliefs to public health policy and scientific research. This includes moves that have already resulted in mass layoffs and the restructuring of these agencies as a whole. We are only just beginning to feel the effects of Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” commission and have a long way to go once new policies that coincide with their reports are created and put into action.

RFK Jr.’s Plan to “Make America Healthy Again”