President-elect Donald Trump's picks for the nation's top health agencies and their track records in office could fuel “anti-science” views and defund global public health efforts. There are concerns around the world.
For example, at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the Trump administration severed ties between the United States and the World Health Organization (WHO). Despite President Joe Biden restoring ties, subsequent struggles to obtain U.S.-made vaccines in low-income countries have left countries like Russia and China doing better than expected in responding to the global pandemic. It became possible to fulfill the role of
President Trump has previously stopped funding or threatened to defund programs that do not align with his reproductive rights agenda, known as the global gag rule. This is why President Trump's new candidacy and its potential global influence are of interest to public health experts around the world.
The US health agency remains the gold standard for drug approvals and disease control strategies, along with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). But that could decline, multiple experts told Yahoo Finance.
“It's already happening that the FDA, the EMA and the MHRA are making some different decisions,” said Martin Mackie, professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. “But the FDA decision has been adopted by many countries that don't have their own regulatory bodies, so I think they'll rely on the EMA instead, and that's all very uncertain.”
President Trump nominated Marty McCurry, a professor at Johns Hopkins University and chief medical officer of the telemedicine platform Sesame, to lead the FDA. Experts see Mr. McCurry as the undisputed candidate, which could allay concerns. But some experts say the bigger concern is that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the top candidate for the top job at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is heading the agency. There is.
How much damage? Robert Kennedy Jr. speaks to the press at Trump Tower on January 10, 2017 in New York City. Reuters/Stephanie Keith ·Reuters/Reuters
Angie Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, said many of Trump's nominees agree on several themes and harbor a degree of skepticism about science.
“Putting an anti-vaxxer in charge of a public health agency will degrade America no matter what,” she said.
“The extent of the damage will depend on how effectively (candidates) are able to implement some of the changes they have promised,” Rasmussen added, adding that it is difficult to predict the timing of changes.
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But some experts suggested the influence of the next presidential nominee could be limited.
That's because the FDA and CDC have multiple layers of organizational leadership and staff that remain stable during a change of administration after a presidential election. But even those jobs could be at risk if President Trump's government efficiency efforts led by Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk succeed, said Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. It is said that there is a sex.
The second major area that would be affected if all of President Trump's health nominees are confirmed is the United States' role in combating infectious diseases and providing aid to support global public health needs. .
Volunteers from the Ukrainian NGO Base UA consult with an elderly Ukrainian woman in Miroliivka, Ukraine, on January 21, 2024. (Ignacio Marin/Anadolu via Getty Images) ·Anadolu (via Getty Images)
This includes the GAVI Vaccine Alliance, which helps fund vaccination efforts, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which has helped other countries launch domestic public health efforts.
Gavin Yammy, a professor of global health and public policy at Duke University, told Yahoo Finance that it's difficult to know how much influence candidates will have on these efforts, but it does raise concerns. . “I think there is good reason to be deeply concerned about the future of U.S. global health cooperation in Trump 2.0,” he said.
“There is plenty of evidence that he has indeed taken steps to withdraw from multilateralism. His representatives, like (U.S. Rep.) Marjorie Taylor Greene, have argued that he has once again led the United States to the World Health Organization (WHO). “They have publicly stated that (they think) they intend to remove them from the organization,” he added. .
Mackie, a former president of the European Public Health Association, told Yahoo Finance that the global public health community is already debating the impact of Trump's election. Last week, he co-authored an editorial in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) highlighting the level of uncertainty.
In addition to the WHO, the United States could also pull funding from other efforts, such as global vaccinations, due to RFK's beliefs.
“Risks include reduced funding to international health organizations and pressure to modify intellectual property regimes and trade agreements to support U.S. corporate interests,” McKee wrote.
That's why the U.S. could set a bad example for the world if fears become reality, Rasmussen said.
“(Trump) is putting candidates in key institutions and trying to dismantle them,” Rasmussen said. “If the FDA ceases to be a functioning regulatory agency, the CDC is unable to investigate disease outbreaks, and the NIH is unable to conduct or fund research, the United States will be a warning to the world, and it will be crucial. Not desirable.”
And the ripple effects are already happening in Canada.
Dr. Madhukar Pai, dean of McGill University's School of Global Public Health, said anti-abortion policies “could spread far beyond the United States, with early such efforts already underway in Canada, and There is a possibility that it will be provoked.” They will be elected by our government in next year's elections. ”
Canada's CBC News also reported last week that residents allegedly supported by RFK Jr. had successfully petitioned for fluoride removal in Montreal.
That's why experts are wary of the candidate and his global impact.
“Everything is unknown at this point,” Hotez said. “I think we're kind of waiting to see how everything happens.”
Anjalee Khemlani is a senior health reporter at Yahoo Finance, covering all areas of pharma, insurance, care services, digital health, PBM, and health policy and politics. Of course, this also includes GLP-1. Follow Anjalee on social media platform X (Twitter) and LinkedIn Bluesky @AnjKhem.
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