Welcome to the dark ages of global healthcare

What once seemed like a dystopian scenario from a sci-fi novel is about to become a reality. Robert F Kennedy Jr, a notorious peddler of conspiracy theories and snake oil, is now set to become United States Secretary of Health and Human Services. Yes, the man who spent decades railing against vaccines, public health institutions, and basic epidemiology is going to be in charge of them.

Since Donald Trump took power less than two weeks ago, the consequences to public health have been swift and devastating.

Last week, officials ordered all federal health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, to switch to dark mode – a term insiders are using to describe the sudden blackout of data, research, and communication from these agencies.

The government halted funding for critical health initiatives, including cancer research, because, apparently, curing cancer is now too woke. Even more shockingly, the US withdrew from the World Health Organization, and recalled all American health officials from international collaborations.

This is no longer just a public health crisis in the making. It is an unfolding catastrophe with a tinfoil-hatted man to be at the helm.

Who is RFK Jr, and why is he so dangerous?

For over two decades, Robert F Kennedy Jr has been one of the world’s most influential purveyors of medical misinformation. I have been following his activities for a long time. Once an environmental lawyer, Kennedy took a hard left into la-la land in the mid-2000s, deciding that vaccines were a bigger threat to humanity than actual infectious diseases. By the way, his own kids are vaccinated.

Through his organisation, Children’s Health Defense, Kennedy has spent and earned millions of dollars in the lucrative industry of disinformation, filing lawsuits against vaccine mandates, and churning out media that masquerades as legitimate journalism. During the Covid-19 pandemic, researchers identified him as one of the ‘Disinformation Dozen’, a few individuals responsible for most anti-vaccine content circulating on social media. His rhetoric fuels vaccine hesitancy worldwide, and his influence extends well beyond the United States – including here in the Pacific.

Samoa: a warning from the recent past

New Zealanders may recall that Kennedy’s misinformation helped to undermine vaccine confidence in Samoa in 2018, when two infants tragically died because of a grave error in preparing the MMR vaccine. Kennedy and CHD seized on this incident, spreading fear and distrust. He even visited the nation in June 2019, a trip that had been organised by a local vaccine critic. When a devastating measles outbreak struck later that year, the already low vaccination rates had plummeted to just 31 percent. There were 83 measles deaths – mostly children under five-years of age. RFK Jr continued to capitalise on the tragedy by claiming that vaccines caused the deaths.

As holder of the most powerful health positions in the world, and his ability to inflict damage is vastly greater.

Public health in crisis

In its first week, the Trump administration enacted the dismantling of public health structures. Here’s what’s already gone down:

Federal health agencies have been ordered into ‘dark mode‘. The CDC, FDA, and National Institutes of Health have stopped publishing data. Websites that once offered real-time public health information on infectious diseases, vaccination rates, and ongoing medical research have either gone offline or have removed critical content.

Life-saving research has been frozen. The government has indefinitely halted grants for cancer research, infectious disease studies, and vaccine development. The federal funding freeze stopped the scientists’ work overnight, leaving them in limbo. Science is apparently too woke.

Withdrawal from WHO. The US has cut all ties with the World Health Organization, ceasing funding and pulling all American staff from international public health initiatives, including pandemic preparedness programmes and polio eradication efforts.

Censorship of public health messaging. Government social media accounts related to health have either gone silent or begun regurgitating anti-vaccine rhetoric. Scientists within these agencies are reportedly being threatened with termination if they speak out.

The global implications

The consequences of this health policy apocalypse extend far beyond the United States. The US has historically played a leading role in global health initiatives, from funding vaccination programmes in low-income countries to spearheading research on emerging infectious diseases.

With the US now retreating from global health leadership, other countries – including New Zealand – must prepare for the fallout. WHO programmes relying on US funding may collapse, leaving vulnerable populations without access to essential vaccines, treatments, and food aid. Global surveillance systems for emerging disease outbreaks are now weakened, increasing the risk of undetected pandemics.

Kennedy can only hand anti-vaccine groups the legitimacy they’ve always craved. Already, conspiracy theorists in New Zealand are using his expected appointment as ‘proof’ that our own public health institutions should be dismantled.

New Zealand is not immune to the creeping influence of misinformation. The Covid-19 pandemic showed how quickly conspiracy theories can take hold, and with RFK Jr now leading US health policy, the anti-science movement will only gain strength.

NZ must prioritise protecting public health. This means:

Strengthening transparency and communication: With the US no longer a reliable source of global health data, other nations must step up. New Zealand must ensure that public health agencies remain transparent.

Countering misinformation aggressively: The spread of false information will only intensify. Health professionals, educators, media, trusted voices – and you – must continue to challenge misinformation in real time and ensure that accurate, science-based information is readily available to all.

A dark turning point

RFK Jr’s appointment as US Secretary of Health and Human Services will be one of the most dangerous moments in modern public health history. The United States, once a powerhouse of scientific innovation is now actively working to dismantle the very foundations of medicine.

Everyone worldwide will feel the repercussions.

The fight against misinformation has never been more critical, and the stakes have never been higher.