Washington, D.C. – As Donald Trump and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. escalate their disastrous assault on public health, today Protect Our Care announced a major expansion of its Public Health Watch project to help keep Americans in the know of the dangers of the Trump administration’s actions in real time. The project will serve as a central hub for tracking and exposing the administration’s attacks on America’s health, which rolls back decades of progress in life-saving vaccine access, disease prevention, equitable health treatment, medical research and innovation, and addressing the needs of underserved communities.
Leading the effort as project director is Kayla Hancock, a seasoned communications and research strategist with over a decade of experience working for national advocacy organizations, including Accountable.US, and national elections. The deputy director for communications and rapid response is Jeremy Funk, a seasoned rapid-response communicator with more than 20 years of experience working for progressive advocacy groups, non-profits, and political campaigns. Hancock and Funk both bring extensive experience running war rooms and health care advocacy campaigns that hold those accountable for rolling back vital initiatives that help the American people.
“Public Health Watch’s mission is clear: the more the American people learn about Donald Trump and Secretary Kennedy’s unfounded attacks on our health, the more lives we can save. They are only making America sicker by gutting vital public health programs and spreading dangerous misinformation,” said Leslie Dach, Chair of Protect Our Care. “The Trump administration treats trusted public health institutions, doctors, and scientists like the enemy, while they weaken public health for all Americans. The Trump-RFK Jr. policies holding up research on diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s and making it harder for families to access life-saving vaccines is a recipe for one public health crisis after another.”
At Issue: American public is under an extraordinary threat on several fronts. The Trump administration is actively dismantling foundational institutions and programs that protect health across the country, disproportionately impacting already underserved communities of color, including Native Americans. Critical agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institutes of Health are being targeted for defunding, reorganization, or elimination.
The consequences of these policies are mounting daily, from disrupted vaccine development and shuttered research programs and trials to community-based programs – putting American lives at risk and contributing to poor health outcomes that could add to their financial burden. The administration has given rise to disinformation and mistrust of peer-reviewed science by fueling false claims about autism and other medical conditions, politicizing infectious diseases, reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, and gender-related care. They have sewn chaos and confusion through indiscriminate funding cuts, agency purges, Medicaid cuts, mass hospital closures, and destabilizing policy shifts across HHS and CMS.
In Response: Public Health Watch is ramping up its efforts to counter the administration’s attacks on public health and put pressure on the Trump CDC and other health institutions to be better prepared and equipped to solve the public health challenges of tomorrow.The project is designed to provide information and tools to support public health professionals, communicators, federal and state policy officials and influencers, and the broader public. Through tactics like rapid response communications, strategic messaging, and storytelling, the project will create a compelling narrative around real-world impacts and engage key audiences in defending public health.
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