WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 1: US President Donald Trump speaks in the flanked press conference room … [+]
Now that Donald Trump has successfully secured the presidency of the United States, there could be significant shifts in American public health policy.
Much of the focus on Trump’s public health policies has been on reproductive rights, funding federal agencies like the CDC and curbing the Affordable Care Act. This could undeniably have profound implications for important health issues, such as the accessibility of medical care. For example, repealing the Affordable Care Act would make it more difficult for millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions to obtain adequate and effective health care coverage.
What could be even more troubling for public health is President-elect Trump’s support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who will reportedly have a huge influence on public health policy over the next four years. The president-elect has said he would allow Kennedy “go wild on health.”
Kennedy is known as a vaccine skeptic and has controversial views on vaccine safety. He has done that repeatedly claimed that vaccines are linked to autism. Based on this data, this association has not been proven to be true science or evidence-based studies. In fact the original research that linked autism to vaccines was flawed and subsequently retracted, and no current research has shown a positive link or correlation between vaccines and autism.
Having a public policy leader who promotes vaccine hesitancy could have detrimental effects on public health. Take measles as an example, a disease that was believed to have been eradicated in 2000 due to successful childhood vaccination rates. So far this year, more than 270 cases of measles have been reported in more than half of the United States alone, according to The Guardian. CDC.
There should be zero cases of measles, but due to international travel and vaccine hesitancy that has led to lower childhood vaccination rates, measles cases are starting to reemerge in America. This could be further exacerbated if public health policy officials promote vaccine hesitancy without relying on evidence-based studies to guide important health decisions.
More recently, Kennedy wrote on social media platform“On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water.”
In 2015, the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps advised a uniform concentration of 0.7 mg/L fluoride in drinking water. It is known that fluoride in that amount prevents tooth decay and protects against tooth decay. According to the researchers, fluoride reduces tooth decay by 25% in children and adults American Dental Association. Removing fluoride in this amount from public drinking water could result in a large increase in cavities in children, as well as enormous expenditures on otherwise preventable dental procedures.
Excessive amounts of fluoride can be harmful to the body. Harmful consequences include tooth discoloration and bone deformities moderate evidence that high levels of fluoride could result in lower IQ for children. None of these harmful effects have been shown to occur at levels currently used in America’s drinking water.
The health of millions of Americans should be informed by evidence-based medicine and rigorous data proven to show what works and what doesn’t. If public policy is left to the whims and opinions of leaders, the outcome could prove disastrous for the well-being of many Americans.
Like Dr. Ashish Jha writes on his X profile, “An ounce of data is worth a thousand pounds of opinions.”