The swearing-in ceremony of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. into the Health and Human Services secretary position, presided over by Donald Trump and Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, signals a major shift in American policy. Along with this development, we’ve seen a significant reduction in scientific personnel and public health professionals from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), totaling over 20,000. This severe action we are currently witnessing is a new phase in Trump’s approach towards science and public health which has now transformed into an exhaustive strategy.
For Trump and his administration, the struggle is fundamentally against the global labor force and their perceived attempt is to reduce them to a state of severe oppression nearly akin to industrial espionage. The slogan ‘Make America Healthy Again’ widely brandished by Trump and Kennedy implies an entirely different intention, creating an environment conducive for the widespread outbreak of infectious diseases, thereby causing a significant decrement in the average life expectancy of workers globally.
This drastic action was taken in sync with the inauguration of Jay Bhattacharya and Martin Makary as directors of the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration respectively. Notably, Bhattacharya has gained infamy for drafting the Great Barrington Declaration, often considered as an endorsement of acquiring herd immunity through ‘natural’ infection means thereby proposing potential harm and debilitating aftereffects of COVID-19. Makary has also been a vocal advocate of this approach and both have been accused of disseminating misinformation and belittling public health measures during the pandemic.
Kennedy’s announcement, ‘The revolution begins today!’, is indicative of a social backlash against the enduring remnants of public health integrity and scientific credibility across all HHS-related agencies. The aftermath of April 1 was a confusing whirlwind for thousands of HHS employees who received notifications of abrupt terminations of employment.
One of the more notable changes include approximately 80% of staff from the Chronic Disease Prevention division under the CDC being let-off, effectively ending the tracking of diabetes and heart diseases across 30 states. Over 300 personnel from HIV Prevention Division were made redundant, consequently affecting over 20 million patients across Africa who were previously receiving crucial medical assistance.
The slew of personnel cuts affected a number of important areas, including the termination of the Environmental Health Science division within the CDC, the dissolution of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control with key implications for firearm mortality tracking, and a full staff cut of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products. Within NIH, the closure of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities marked the cessation of grants totaling to $500 million aimed at addressing racial health disparity.
The collateral damage of these firings also extended to halting the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration operations, weakening the capabilities of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response due to staff cuts. In addition to this, nine agency directors were either dismissed or put on administrative leave and multiple senior officials were reassigned within the organization. Half of the 10 HHS regional offices including those in major cities like New York and Chicago were also shut down. A noticeable pattern of redundancies was seen in communications departments across various agencies as well.
The impacts of these radical staff reductions will undoubtedly reverberate globally. Perhaps the most concerning are the impacts on agencies responsible for monitoring the nationwide outbreak of H5N1, or ‘bird flu’, particularly in poultry and dairy farms. This includes the staff reductions at the CDC’s Global Health Center and ASPR, and also includes the termination of 140 staff members from FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine.
The danger lies in the fact that these three agencies formed an essential network with the USDA to monitor the spread of bird flu which has previously demonstrated a 50% fatality rate in humans. Kennedy and Brooke Rollins, the head of USDA, advocated the policy of letting the virus spread through poultry farms, an approach largely disapproved by the scientific community.
Without vital infrastructure to track and report the nationwide bird flu spread, the potential for it to spark the next global pandemic is significantly increased. This disastrous scenario follows a series of previous sweeping attacks on science and public health under both Trump and Kennedy’s and leadership.
This included the U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization, blatant modifications, and removals of scientific materials from leading health agencies’ websites, and a drastic $4 billion cut from NIH’s spending on facilities and administrative services. Some view these actions as an inherent aspect of counter-revolution, suggesting an active agenda taken up by influential sectors of the American ruling class aimed at dismantling all major social and scientific progress achieved in the past century.
In this ambitious shift, reminiscent of Gleichschaltung under the Nazi regime, academic freedom is severely suppressed, with respected scientists being ousted, hence reshaping the public health sector in a detrimental way. The current situation is precipitating a severe reversal of the longstanding dominance of American scientific excellence, a standing that was maintained through the influx of some of Europe’s greatest research talents, including Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi, during and post World War II era.
However, this influx of talent is now reversing direction. A recent survey by Nature found that 75% of scientists in the U.S. are now considering leaving the country, with Europe and Canada being popular destination choices. This is partly sparked by the encroachment on ‘U.S. science’, as put by an open letter authored by over 2000 elected members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
The critical defense for the future of science and public health cannot be left to the Democratic Party alone, which, according to some, has enabled the establishment of this prevailing state of affairs. The responsibility lies primarily with the working class, under the banner of an organized socialist movement.
The Socialist Equality Party plays a pivotal role in leading this battle. It’s a demanding task ensuring the survival of academic freedom, public health integrity, and scientific credibility in the nation and it requires a united front to resist the counter-revolution threatening these crucial pillars of society.
The post Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Entry into HHS Indicates Major US Policy Shift appeared first on Real News Now.
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