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RFK Jr is playing with babies’ lives

His decision to withdraw the US from the vaccine alliance Gavi threatens not just children’s lives worldwide, but also innovation and American interests.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. leaves the stage after discussing the findings of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) latest Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network survey, at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 16, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo

US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s decision to end funding support for vaccine alliance Gavi is both immoral and dangerous, says the writer.

PHOTO: REUTERS

Mihir Sharma

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When Mr Robert F. Kennedy Jr was

appointed US Secretary of Health and Human Services

, everyone knew he was capable of doing great damage. He had a long history of indulging conspiracy theories, particularly when it came to vaccines. Already, his attempt to reassess immunisation schedules in the US has outraged paediatricians.

But his latest broadside against science, a decision to

withdraw US funding from the global vaccine alliance Gavi

, may kill far more children than anything he has so far tried at home.

RFK Jr is playing with babies’ lives

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