HHS Layoffs: Robert F Kennedy Jr cuts 10,000 health jobs amid measles outbreak | World News

Robert F Kennedy (NYT file picture)

US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr on Thursday unveiled plans to chop 1 / 4 of his division’s workforce as a part of broad restructuring underneath his “Make America Healthy Again” initiative.
The transfer, which goals to prioritise continual illness prevention, will remove 10,000 positions, decreasing the division of health and human providers (HHS) workforce from 82,000 to 62,000 workers, factoring in early retirements and buyouts facilitated by Elon Musk’s so-called division of presidency effectivity (DOGE).
The announcement comes because the US battles its worst measles outbreak in years and as issues develop over the potential for chicken flu to spark a human pandemic.
Kennedy, who has drawn criticism for downplaying vaccines and questioning mainstream public health insurance policies, defended the choice as a mandatory realignment. “We aren’t just reducing bureaucratic sprawl,” he mentioned. “We are realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic.”
The restructuring will consolidate HHS’s 28 divisions into 15, together with a newly fashioned Administration for a Healthy America (AHA). The division estimates the plan will save $1.8 billion yearly—about 0.1% of HHS’s $1.8 trillion funds. “This Department will do more—a lot more—at a lower cost to the taxpayer,” Kennedy added.
The Food and Drug Administration will see the deepest cuts, with 3,500 job losses, adopted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with 2,400 and the National Institutes of Health with 1,200. The reorganization additionally pledges to shift focus towards tackling continual sickness via “safe, wholesome food, clean water, and the elimination of environmental toxins,” in keeping with an official assertion.
While Kennedy’s advocacy for cleaner meals and environmental protections aligns with broader public health issues, critics warn his historical past of vaccine skepticism and rejection of established medical science raises severe doubts about his management.
In 2023, he proposed halting infectious illness analysis for eight years and has beforehand questioned whether or not HIV causes AIDS or whether or not germs trigger sickness in any respect. More not too long ago, he has promoted Vitamin A as a substitute for measles vaccination, falsely claiming that the vaccine itself causes deaths “every year.”
“He couldn’t do a worse job than he’s doing,” mentioned paediatrician and vaccine skilled Paul Offit. The ongoing measles outbreak has sickened 378 folks—largely unvaccinated people—and prompted two deaths.
Kennedy has additionally drawn sharp criticism for suggesting that chicken flu ought to be allowed to unfold freely amongst poultry to determine naturally immune birds and breed them. Experts warn that encouraging viral unfold might result in harmful mutations and elevated dangers to people.