Tag
Incidents affecting public health infrastructure and the right to health, including dismantlement of health agencies, restriction of health information, and policies undermining disease prevention and response capabilities.
4 incidents
RFK Jr.'s dismantlement of federal health agencies during an active measles crisis — including firing vaccine advisors, cutting thousands of positions, and clawing back billions — has resulted in the worst measles outbreak in 30+ years and threatens America's measles-elimination status.
Mass layoffs at the FDA driven by the Department of Government Efficiency eliminated over 3,500 staff in 2025, causing foreign food safety inspections to drop by nearly half, outbreak investigations to go unsolved at record rates, and critical programs like avian influenza testing to be halted.
The administration froze PEPFAR on Day One, cutting antiretroviral therapy for an estimated 20 million HIV-positive people in sub-Saharan Africa. PEPFAR funded 70% of the global HIV response. Health workers reported clinics closing, drug supplies running out, and patients dying within weeks of the freeze. Even after partial restoration, the damage to supply chains, staffing, and preventive programs is projected to cause hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths.
The US withdrew from the WHO effective January 2026, removing the organization's largest funder and dismantling pandemic preparedness infrastructure. The WHO announced plans to cut 2,300 jobs — 25% of its workforce. The withdrawal degrades global disease surveillance, influenza vaccine matching, and outbreak response capacity at a time of ongoing zoonotic disease threats.