California and three other US states on Tuesday condemned the Trump administration’s “dangerous misinformation” suggesting a link between vaccines and autism, stressing that it “threatens the health security” of the United States.
Since returning to power, Donald Trump has appointed Secretary of Health, Robert Kennedy Jr, who is known for his anti-vaccine positions and conspiracy beliefs. Nicknamed “RFK,” the middle-aged man initiated a sweeping overhaul of America’s health care establishment with massive layoffs and budget cuts, and promised to uncover the causes of what he described as an autism “epidemic.”
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the main health agency in the United States, changed its website to align with the minister’s thesis. The CDC website now mentions a possible link between vaccines and autism. This turnaround has been condemned by the scientific community, with some autism specialists accusing the Trump administration of returning “to the Middle Ages” by ignoring science.
“Absence of federal leadership”
A number of critics have now joined in California, Oregon, Hawaii and Washington State. These four state Democrats, who formed a “health alliance” in September to propose their own guidelines, said they were “deeply concerned” by CDC lapses and advised American parents to continue vaccinating their children.
“The absence of consistent, science-based federal leadership poses a direct threat to our nation’s health security,” they said, noting that measles cases reached “record levels under the Trump administration since America eradicated the disease in 2000.”
The false theory linking autism to a childhood vaccine – the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine – stems from fake research published in 1998, then retracted and repeatedly debunked. “Rigorous studies of millions of people in several countries over several decades provide high-quality evidence that vaccines have no link to autism,” the press release emphasized.
“Americans deserve public health advice based on science – not opinion,” added California Governor Gavin Newsom, quoted in this press release. “The Alliance (…) will continue to follow the science, not chase conspiracies and outdated ideas. »
