Latest news with #RobertF.KennedyJnr
South China Morning Post
10-04-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Trump health chief Robert F. Kennedy Jnr says US will know cause of autism ‘epidemic' soon
The United States government will identify the cause of autism by September this year, US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jnr said on Thursday. Advertisement 'At your direction, we are going to know by September. We've launched a massive testing and research effort that's going to involve hundreds of scientists from around the world,' Kennedy said at a meeting of US President Donald Trump's cabinet. 'By September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic and we'll be able to eliminate those exposures.' Trump in February ordered the creation of a 'Make America Healthy Again' Commission made up of Kennedy and other secretaries to look at everything from the rates of autism and asthma in children to how much medicine is being prescribed to them for ADHD or other conditions. Kennedy said the prevalence of autism has jumped dramatically in recent decades. (From right) US President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jnr attend a cabinet meeting at the White House on Thursday. Photo: Reuters 'The autism rates have gone – from our most recent numbers, we think are going to be about one in 31 from one in 10,000 when I was a kid,' he said, without offering more detail or citing the source of the figures.
South China Morning Post
01-04-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Trump healthcare cuts to eliminate 10,000 jobs, strip union rights, amid measles outbreak
Employees across the massive US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) began receiving notices of dismissal on Tuesday in a major overhaul expected to ultimately lay off up to 10,000 people. The notices come just days after President Donald Trump moved to strip workers of their collective bargaining rights at HHS and other agencies throughout the government. Advertisement Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jnr's announced a plan last week to remake HHS, which, through its agencies, is responsible for tracking health trends and disease outbreaks, conducting and funding medical research, monitoring the safety of food and medicine, and administering health insurance programmes for nearly half of the country. The plan would consolidate agencies that oversee billions of dollars for addiction services and community health centres across the country under a new office called the Administration for a Healthy America. The lay-offs are expected to shrink HHS to 62,000 positions, lopping off nearly a quarter of its staff – 10,000 jobs through lay-offs and another 10,000 workers who took early retirement and voluntary separation offers. Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington predicted the cuts will have ramifications when natural disasters strike or infectious diseases, like the ongoing measles outbreak, spread. US President Donald Trump's administration aims to cut 10,000 jobs in health services. Photo: AFP 'They may as well be renaming it the Department of Disease because their plan is putting lives in serious jeopardy,' Murray said on Friday during a call with reporters.
South China Morning Post
28-03-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Utah bans fluoride in drinking water, becoming first US state to do so
Utah has become the first US state to ban fluoride in public drinking water, over opposition from dentists and national health organisations who warn the move will lead to medical problems and disproportionately affect low-income communities. Advertisement Republican Governor Spencer Cox signed legislation on Thursday that bars cities and communities from deciding whether to add the mineral to their water systems. Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Utah lawmakers who pushed for a ban said putting fluoride in water was too expensive. Cox, who grew up and raised his own children in a community without fluoridated water, compared it recently to being 'medicated' by the government. The ban, which is effective May 7, comes weeks after US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jnr, who has expressed scepticism about water fluoridation, was sworn into office. Robert F. Kennedy Jnr testifies before a Senate confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in January. Photo: Reuters The American Dental Association sharply criticised Cox and Utah lawmakers, saying the ban showed 'wanton disregard for the oral health and well-being of their constituents'. The group said that cavities are the most common chronic childhood disease.
South China Morning Post
19-03-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
US Senate Democrats demand reversal of CDC mass firings in letter to health secretary
Seven US Senate Democrats demanded on Wednesday that US President Donald Trump's administration reinstate all of the employees it fired from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) since he took office. Advertisement The decision to fire hundreds of CDC employees has put the lives of Americans and other people across the world at risk, the senators wrote in a letter, seen by Reuters, to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jnr. 'Despite the CDC's critical responsibility and record of keeping Americans safe, one of your very first actions as Secretary was overseeing the firing of an estimated 750 public servants at CDC,' they wrote. 'We are deeply troubled by the complete disregard for public health and health promotion displayed by these mass firings.' The letter, which was signed by Senators Raphael Warnock, Jon Ossoff, Ron Wyden, Chris Van Hollen, Ben Ray Lujan, Jeff Merkley, and Angela Alsobrooks, also demands Kennedy make clear to Congress how many CDC employees in total were fired since Trump took office and how many were reinstated. Advertisement
South China Morning Post
26-02-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Unvaccinated Texas child dies in measles outbreak, first US fatality in years
An unvaccinated child in Texas has died from measles, authorities said Wednesday, marking the first US fatality from the highly contagious virus in nearly a decade and sparking renewed fears of its resurgence. Advertisement The death comes amid declining immunisation rates nationwide and as Robert F. Kennedy Jnr, who has long spread falsehoods around the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, begins his tenure as US health secretary. 'The school-aged child who was not vaccinated was hospitalised in Lubbock last week and tested positive for measles,' the state health department said in a news release. A statement from Lubbock city confirmed that the child died 'within the last 24 hours'. Since the start of the year, more than 130 measles cases have been reported in west Texas and neighbouring New Mexico, the vast majority in unvaccinated children. Advertisement Eighteen have been hospitalised in Texas, and health officials warn the outbreak is likely to grow.
