The move comes weeks after a gunman fired hundreds of rounds into the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.
The letter's signatories, including hundreds of current HHS employees, accused Kennedy of "sowing public distrust by questioning the integrity and ethics of the CDC workforce", including calling the public health agency a "cesspool of corruption" during his unsuccessful 2024 presidential campaign.
They also said Secretary Kennedy’s policies, including cutting thousands of HHS staff, were creating “dangerous gaps” in areas such as infectious disease detection, workplace safety, and chronic disease prevention and response.
“The intentional undermining of trust in America’s public health workforce is costing lives," the workers said. They noted that Kennedy had spread false claims about the measles vaccine, weakening the public health agency’s response to the disease.
The recent attack on the CDC building is believed to be another example of the danger stemming from the health secretary’s words. The gunman, who had publicly expressed distrust in the Covid-19 vaccine, opened fire at CDC headquarters, killing police officer David Rose, 33, before dying by suicide on 8/8.
In response, the HHS maintained that Secretary Kennedy “stands with CDC employees and prioritizes their safety and well-being”.
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US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks in Washington on 16/4. Photo: AP |
US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks in Washington on 16/4. Photo: AP
Kennedy has long been accused of spreading vaccine misinformation, including a 2019 visit to Samoa that came months before a measles outbreak on the South Pacific island killed 81 people, mostly babies and young children.
In an interview with The Guardian earlier this year, Samoa’s prime minister, Fiame Naomi Mataʻafa, expressed surprise that Kennedy, who denies being anti-vaccine, had been chosen as US health secretary.
More recently, Kennedy cancelled hundreds of millions of USD in funding for mRNA vaccine research, a medical breakthrough credited with preventing millions of Covid-19 deaths and with the potential to treat diseases like cancer and HIV, according to the International Vaccine Access Center at Johns Hopkins University.
William Foege, who served as CDC director from 1977 to 1983, wrote an article published in US health news outlet Stat News this week, calling on public health workers to “not retreat.” “We will emerge from this drought of values, principles, and truth, and once again apply our talents to improve global health and well-being,” he wrote.
Foege, who is credited with playing a key role in eradicating smallpox, a virus with a 30% mortality rate, warned that the health secretary’s words were dangerous. “For now, let it be clear, Kennedy’s words can be as deadly as the smallpox virus. Americans deserve better,” he wrote.
(Al Jazeera)
