The Trump administration launched a new health commission following the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The Make America Healthy Again Commission is intended to combat chronic childhood diseases.
“American life expectancy significantly lags behind other developed countries, with pre‑COVID-19 United States life expectancy averaging 78.8 years and comparable countries averaging 82.6 years,” the executive order says. “This equates to 1.25 billion fewer life years for the United States population. Six in 10 Americans have at least one chronic disease, and four in 10 have two or more chronic diseases. An estimated one in five United States adults lives with a mental illness.”
The order explains that as of 2022, 40% of U.S. children had “at least one health condition, such as allergies, asthma, or an autoimmune disease.”
“Autism spectrum disorder now affects 1 in 36 children in the United States — a staggering increase from rates of 1 to 4 out of 10,000 children identified with the condition during the 1980s,” it reads. “Eighteen percent of late adolescents and young adults have fatty liver disease, close to 30 percent of adolescents are prediabetic, and more than 40 percent of adolescents are overweight or obese.”
The commission will “advise and assist the President on how best to exercise his authority to address the childhood chronic disease crisis” through a “Make our Children Healthy Again Assessment.” It will then develop a “Make our Children Healthy Again Strategy” to restructure the federal government’s response to childhood diseases.
On February 13, RFK Jr. was confirmed as HHS Secretary in a 52-48 vote. Only one Republican, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), voted in opposition to Kennedy’s confirmation.
