Health risk?: Robert Kennedy, Jr has filled the internet and the airwaves with views on vaccines, food safety, medicines and supplements that are a mix of grave misrepresentations and far-fetched conspiracies. — ©2024 The New York Times Company
EVEN among the chaos generated by Donald Trump’s recent Cabinet picks, one stands out for the extensive suffering and lasting institutional damage it may cause: his choice of Robert F Kennedy Jr to lead the Health and Human Services Department.
Modern public health is one of civilisation’s great achievements. In 1900, up to 30% of infants in some United States cities never made it to their first birthday. Since that time, vaccines, sanitation and effective medications have eliminated many previously commonplace illnesses and consigned others to extreme rarity. It’s easy to take much of that for granted, especially as those days have receded from living memory, but those achievements are fragile and can be lost.
