National health strategy released, as Kennedy controversy intensifies

Ryan Spencer/Summit Daily News
The Make America Healthy Again Commission released its “Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy” report on Tuesday, the Health and Human Services Department announced.
“This plan outlines the Trump administration’s approach to pursuing rigorous, gold-standard scientific research to guide informed decisions, promote healthy outcomes for children and families, and drive innovative solutions,” the department said in a news advisory.
The strategy is a follow-up to the earlier report that identified what the commission chaired by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. identified as the problems causing children’s health products and practices.
That report said glyphosate and other herbicides are problems, but a leaked draft of the strategy report indicated that it will not call for any major changes to government regulation of those chemicals. Farm groups complained that they had no input into the earlier report and the White House held a series of meetings with those groups this summer.
Meanwhile, following Kennedy’s testimony before the Senate Finance Committee last week, criticism of his views on vaccines and his management of the Centers for Disease Control has intensified.
Members of Kennedy’s family have said he is a threat to public health and called for his resignation, the Associated Press reported.
Some Republicans have said his moves on vaccines are risky for public health and aren’t popular with the public, The Washington Post reported.
A coalition of national medical, scientific, public health and patient organizations called for Kennedy’s resignation to “ensure the health of the American people.”
While most of the criticism of Kennedy has focused on vaccines, this coalition said food safety is endangered “because reduced capacity to protect the public from foodborne illness, including a drastic reduction in the number of infections monitored and a resulting increased risk of foodborne illness.”
Kennedy remains defiant, and is considering new vaccine advisers who were critical of coronavirus shots, The Washington Post reported.
In a joint letter earlier this month, more than 1,000 current and former HHS employees called on Kennedy to resign as Health and Human Services secretary, accusing him of endangering U.S. health and destabilizing the federal healthcare department.

Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism
The Sky-Hi News strives to deliver powerful stories that spark emotion and focus on the place we live.
Over the past year, contributions from readers like you helped to fund some of our most important reporting, including coverage of the East Troublesome Fire.
If you value local journalism, consider making a contribution to our newsroom in support of the work we do.