), as well as niece Maeve Kennedy McKean, published “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. … is part of this campaign to attack the institutions committed to reducing the tragedy of preventable infectious diseases,” they wrote. He is the president of the board of Waterkeeper Alliance, a non-profit environmental group that he helped found in 1999. In 2005, he alleged in an article published in Rolling Stone and Salon that an ingredient called thimerosal, contained in some vaccines, was dangerous, and that the government was hiding its links to autism. We love Robert F. Kennedy Jr., but he is part of a misinformation campaign that’s having heartbreaking—and deadly—consequences. Their tireless efforts guide the development, testing and distribution of safe and effective vaccines against 16 diseases, including measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis, polio, diphtheria, tetanus, influenza and HPV. The WHO, the health arm of the United Nations, has listed vaccine hesitancy as one of the top 10 threats to global health in 2019.
With over 700 cases already reported and indications that more outbreaks will occur, 2019 will likely see the most recorded cases of measles in decades. No matter what you might have read on social media, there is no scientific basis to allegations that vaccines against HPV pose a serious health threat. However, on vaccines he is wrong. And numerous studies from many countries by many researchers have concluded that there is no link between autism and vaccines. President Kennedy signed the Vaccination Assistance Act in 1962 to,While serving as attorney general, Robert F. Kennedy promoted community empowerment models to address urgent social needs like better health care, leading to the development of community health centers, which our uncle Ted Kennedy championed throughout his long career in the Senate. In Maine, health officials in March reported 41 new cases of whooping cough, another disease once thought to be a relic of the past—more than twice as many cases as this time last year.This problem isn’t only an American one. “However, on vaccines he is wrong.” The family members point to the work that other members of the Kennedy family, including President John F. Kennedy, have done to promote public health. The necessity and safety of vaccines are backed up by every major medical organization, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Public Health Association and scores of others. Most cases of preventable diseases occur among unvaccinated children, because parents have chosen not to vaccinate, have delayed vaccination, have difficulty accessing vaccines, or the children were too young to receive the vaccines. But 764 measles cases across 23 states have been reported as of May 3, according to the latest CDC numbers.The latest U.S. outbreaks are believed to be caused by travelers bringing the virus from countries having large measles outbreaks. It is in all our interests to make sure that immunizations reach every child on the globe through safe, effective and affordable vaccines.
On this issue, Bobby is an outlier in the Kennedy family.
Kennedy is a son of Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former president John F. Kennedy. Smallpox, which plagued mankind for thousands of years, has been eradicated through vaccines. The disease can spread quickly within communities where not enough people are vaccinated to prevent an outbreak.Last week, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the outbreaks were posing an increasing public health risk.“We have come a long way in fighting infectious diseases in America, but we risk backsliding and seeing our families, neighbors, and communities needlessly suffer from preventable diseases,” Azar said.In April, the Food and Drug Administration issued a stern and lengthy statement by Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, urging Americans to vaccinate.“We cannot state strongly enough,” Marks said, “The overwhelming scientific evidence shows that vaccines are among the most effective and safest interventions to both prevent individual illness and protect public health.” The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning.The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning. The World Health Organization reports a 300 percent increase in the numbers of measles cases around the world this year compared with the first three months of 2018. And his and others’ work against vaccines is having heartbreaking consequences. Because of immunizations, no cases of polio have been reported in the United States since 1979. We stand behind him in his ongoing fight to protect our environment.
And countries such as Australia, with robust human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine programs, are on track to eliminate cervical cancer, a major killer of women around the world, in the next decade. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. couldn't be happier about marking an anniversary milestone with his wife, Cheryl Hines, and he proved it with a thankful social media post.
On Wednesday, Kennedy’s siblings Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and former congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II (D-Mass. Salon ultimately retracted the story and removed it from its website.He has continued to write and give speeches on the repeatedly debunked claims that vaccines cause autism and leads a group called the Children’s Health Defense, which propagates misinformation about risks posed by vaccines.In 2000, measles was declared eliminated from the United States, thanks to the country’s vaccination practices.