'Make America Healthy Again': Robert F Kennedy Jr cuts 10,000 health jobs amid measles outbreak

US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr on Thursday unveiled plans to cut a quarter of his department's workforce as part of broad restructuring under his "Make America Healthy Again" initiative.
The move, which aims to prioritise

chronic disease prevention

, will eliminate 10,000 positions, reducing the department of health and human services (HHS) workforce from 82,000 to 62,000 employees, factoring in early retirements and buyouts facilitated by Elon Musk's so-called department of government efficiency (DOGE).
The announcement comes as the US battles its worst measles outbreak in years and as concerns grow over the potential for bird flu to spark a human pandemic.
Kennedy, who has drawn criticism for downplaying vaccines and questioning mainstream

public health policies

, defended the decision as a necessary realignment. “We aren’t just reducing bureaucratic sprawl,” he said. “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, including a newly formed Administration for a Healthy America (AHA). The department estimates the plan will save $1.8 billion annually—about 0.1% of HHS’s $1.8 trillion budget. “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, followed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with 2,400 and the National Institutes of Health with 1,200. The reorganization also pledges to shift focus toward tackling chronic illness through “safe, wholesome food, clean water, and the elimination of environmental toxins,” according to an official statement.
While Kennedy’s advocacy for cleaner food and environmental protections aligns with broader public health concerns, critics warn his history of vaccine skepticism and rejection of established medical science raises serious doubts about his leadership.
In 2023, he proposed halting infectious disease research for eight years and has previously questioned whether HIV causes AIDS or whether germs cause illness at all. More recently, he has promoted Vitamin A as an alternative to measles vaccination, falsely claiming that the vaccine itself causes deaths “every year.”
“He couldn’t do a worse job than he’s doing,” said paediatrician and vaccine expert Paul Offit. The ongoing measles outbreak has sickened 378 people—mostly unvaccinated individuals—and caused two deaths.
Kennedy has also drawn sharp criticism for suggesting that bird flu should be allowed to spread freely among poultry to identify naturally immune birds and breed them. Experts warn that encouraging viral spread could lead to dangerous mutations and increased risks to humans.