Guest columnist Michael Quinlan: Mixing healthier foods with vaccine misinformation

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, waves to the media as he rides the train to go to meet with Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, waves to the media as he rides the train to go to meet with Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) Jose Luis Magana

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife Cheryl Hines, center, arrive for the Celebration of the Life of Robert F. Kennedy at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Wednesday, June 6, 2018.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife Cheryl Hines, center, arrive for the Celebration of the Life of Robert F. Kennedy at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Wednesday, June 6, 2018. AP FILE PHOTO

By MICHAEL QUINLAN

Published: 12-17-2024 5:20 PM

 

I read Olin Rose-Bardawil’s column in support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services secretary [“RFK Jr. could bring change to health woes,” Gazette, Dec. 13]. And although RFK Jr. has sounded the alarm about chronic diseases, there is little on his website offering solutions.

He has five stances listed on his site. First one is he wants Americans to eat healthier. In 2010, Michelle Obama instituted the “Let’s Move” campaign, encouraging schools to change their lunch offerings for a healthier diet. Obesity in children has been a chronic problem and this program did successfully reduce obesity in younger children.

However, Republicans fought against this program and it ended in 2017, and it probably will not reach its goal of reducing child obesity by 5% in 2030. Maybe RFK Jr. could use this as a model to convince his Republican friends to help people eat healthier.

When the Biden administration came into office they passed the Inflation Reduction Act, part of which lowered drug prices. The amount of money the U.S. spends on health care is by far the highest in the world. And although many people have health insurance, drugs are not always covered. In the past people couldn’t afford to buy medicines to get healthy, but under Biden’s plan many drug prices will be capped. This will save people thousands of dollars yearly.

Again, Republicans have fought tooth and nail against this program and have vowed to repeal it under Trump. Hopefully RFK Jr. can convince his Republican friends not to end this program.

But the biggest issue with RFK Jr. is his anti-vaccine stance. Last week, it was released that one of RFK Jr.’s attorneys asked the FDA to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine. By 1994, polio had been eradicated in the Americas and although there is no cure for polio, vaccination has prevented it. In 2022, the U.S saw its first case of polio in three decades. Now it is reemerging in unvaccinated people in the U.S.

In 2019, amid an outbreak of measles in Samoa, RFK Jr. visited the country and sent a letter to the country’s prime minister saying the measles vaccine might have caused the outbreak. Partly because of his message, many people stopped getting vaccinated and over two years, 83 people died of measles in Samoa.

Article continues after...

Yesterday's Most Read Articles

Vaccination has eliminated or greatly reduced death rates for many diseases. Why does RFK Jr. want these diseases to reemerge? I think we should be very concerned if he becomes the health czar concerning his anti-vaccine stance.

When I read that Rose-Bardawil was going to write for the Gazette, I thought it was a great idea. I was hoping to hear what young people thought of issues that directly affected them. Obviously chronic diseases affects everyone, but I was more interested to hear what young people thought of other issues. I wonder if they would have ideas about political issues such as climate change, student debt, gun safety, health insurance, etc. Or nonpolitical issues, such as space exploration, money paid to superstar athletes, education reform or other concerns.

In the future, maybe someone could ask them. I am a fan of Rose-Bardawil and I’m hoping he’s the one. I look forward to future columns.

Michael Quinlan lives in Southampton.