Trump picks 'vaccine skeptic' to lead US Department of Health

On November 14 (local time), President-elect Donald Trump announced his nomination of Mr. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as head of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

“The safety and health of all Americans is the most important role of any administration, and HHS will play a major role in ensuring that people are protected from the toxic chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that contribute to the serious health crisis in this country,” Trump said in a social media post, expressing confidence that Kennedy “is the man to make America great and healthy again.”

Mr. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was nominated to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services in the new Trump administration. (Photo: New York Times)

In a statement the same day, Mr. Kennedy stressed the importance of eliminating "corruption" from the department and pledged to "provide transparency to the American people" so they can make decisions about their personal health.

“I look forward to working with the more than 80,000 employees at HHS to free the agency from its shackles and enable them to pursue their mission of making Americans the healthiest people on Earth again,” he said.

The nomination of Mr. Kennedy to head HHS is a notable choice.

Kennedy is known for his skepticism about vaccines and his unorthodox views on medicine that have worried health officials. He has repeatedly linked vaccines to autism, a view long rejected by many countries. Kennedy also founded Children's Health Defense, a leading anti-vaccine group.

Mr. Kennedy supports raw milk (unpasteurized and unhomogenized milk), despite the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) health risk warnings about drinking raw milk, especially in light of the current avian influenza outbreak in dairy cows.

Mr. Kennedy also promoted hydroxychloroquine, a drug whose emergency authorization for treating COVID-19 was revoked by the FDA after a study of 821 people found it to be ineffective.

Last year, Mr. Kennedy launched his own presidential campaign — first as a Democratic challenger to President Joe Biden, then as an independent — focused largely on reversing the “chronic disease epidemic.” He proposed a range of policies to overhaul food and environmental safety guidelines, promote holistic medicine and restructure public funding for vaccine research.

In the final days of his own campaign, Mr. Kennedy met with Mr. Trump several times, and the two discussed the possibility that Mr. Kennedy would support Mr. Trump in exchange for a role in the new administration.

Mr. Kennedy suspended his campaign in August and announced his support for then-Republican candidate Donald Trump.

Hoa Vu (Source: New York Times, CNN)

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/ong-trump-chon-nguoi-nghi-ngo-vaccine-lam-lanh-dao-bo-y-te-my-ar907504.html