Health Secretary Kennedy Has To Go
Washington D.C. – The U.S. made historic public health progress in the year 2000 by stopping the spread of measles for 12 straight months. Now, the Wall Street Journal reports that — amid the worst string of measles outbreaks in 35 years — the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) “has revoked the measles-elimination status of the U.S.” for the first time in 26 years. Protect Our Care condemned the Trump-RFK Jr anti-vax agenda for inviting the preventable disease to claw back from eradication and devolve into a deadly crisis.
Kayla Hancock, Director of Protect Our Care’s Public Health Project released the following statement:
“A crowning achievement for U.S. public health has been tossed in the dustbin of history by this administration. No one bears more blame for this preventable and deadly health crisis than Donald Trump and RFK Jr. They promised to make America healthy again, then did everything in their power to bring measles back from the dead. They weaponized the bully pulpit to continue to spread debunked lies about the measles vaccine. The dangerous anti-vax disinformation platformed on a national stage by the White House absolutely spurred further erosion of vaccination rates and an explosion in measles cases. Even when children died of measles in Texas last year, Sec. Kennedy went on national television to scare parents into thinking the MMR vaccine was the problem, not the solution.
“In August, Trump threw gas on the fire by signing an executive order to make the measles vaccine less accessible and more expensive – which gave Sec. Kennedy license to double down on inciting anti-vax fear. With 10 measles deaths and counting in 2026, RFK Jr’s HHS is now hiding behind 11th-hour resources the CDC threw at fighting this crisis three weeks before the election — two years too late.
“The best way for the nation to regain footing in its losing war against measles and other preventable diseases is for Secretary Kennedy to be removed from power as soon as possible. Haven’t enough kids been needlessly hospitalized?”
By January 20th of this year, the U.S. was already poised to lose its measles elimination status after 12 straight months of measles transmission. That day, Protect Our Care projected warnings on the side of the HHS executive building, including “Measles HQ” and “RFK Jr: Making America Sick Again.” In addition, Protect Our Care hosted an event with Dr. Annie Andrews (D-SC), Hawaii Governor Josh Green, M.D., and Dr. Demetre Daskalakis demanding action to address the crisis from RFK Jr.’s HHS – action that never came. Instead, Secretary Kennedy spent the rest of the year embarking on anti-vax fishing expeditions to manufacture any data he could use to keep scaring parents away from vaccines, despite decades of evidence proving them to be safe and effective.
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