Public Health Needs MAHA... Like It Needs Another Outbreak
The Real Truth About Vaccines
To be clear, public health does not need MAHA.
And it is a shame that someone like Craig Spencer would advocate for them…
Public Health Needs MAHA... Like It Needs Another Outbreak
MAHA is indeed an opportunity, as Craig Spencer writes…
MAHA is an opportunity for anti-vaccine influencers to make even more money selling books, page views, supplements, and ivermectin, etc.
MAHA is an opportunity for them to keep parents angry and focused on blaming vaccines for anything and everything, from autism and eczema to food allergies and seizures, as they push the idea of a vaccine injury epidemic.
“When I sat down with Nancy Fuller, a lifelong Democrat and, more recently, a MAHA supporter, at a Christian coffeehouse in rural Ohio, she told me that what she likes about the movement is its willingness to try. Ever since her son was diagnosed with autism, decades ago, she has wondered whether environmental exposures or maybe vaccines were to blame, and she has spent years watching health institutions dismiss parents like her as ignorant or uninformed.”
Craig Spencer
MAHA is an opportunity for quack questionable providers (MAPS doctors) to get more parents of autistic children to try their harmful treatments - from restrictive diets to extra doses of vitamins and minerals to all kinds of detox regimens, including chelation. They will have them trying (until they figure out they don’t work or they run out of money…) a ton of unsupported/unproven biomedical treatments promising a recovery or a cure, with frequent “lab testing to guide adjustments.”
MAHA is an opportunity for measles to once again become endemic in the United States! In fact, it almost certainly has, as we have reached record-breaking case numbers for the second year in a row. Now, we are simply waiting on a delayed meeting of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to tell us so.
MAHA is an opportunity to get journalists, even when they are also doctors, to write glowing articles about them, even as they regurgitate MAHA talking points to do it…
“One step to winning back the public’s trust would be a serious reassessment of the field’s financial relationships. The AAP’s own donor page lists at least 10 pharmaceutical companies as supporters, including six that manufacture vaccines the AAP recommends.”
Craig Spencer
For example, the corporate donor page Craig Spencer links to is for the AAP’s Friends of Children Fund, a philanthropic fund that provides money for projects that support the health and safety of children. Recent projects have focused on indigenous child health, youth sleep problems, preventing firearm injuries and deaths, healthy teens, youth suicide, and mental health, etc.
You would think Craig Spencer might mention that, instead of implying that the corporate donors were directly funding the operations of the AAP…
“The distrust that fuels MAHA is far older than the movement, and it will not evaporate in three years. The conditions that allowed MAHA to flourish—the trust deficit, the corporate entanglements, the gap between research and community, the invisibility of public health in people’s daily lives—have been festering for decades.”
Craig Spencer
And you would think that Craig Spencer would understand that it is misinformation, propaganda, and political polarization that have led to the rise in distrust of our public health systems.
“When scientists explain that some synthetic additives have been extensively tested for safety over decades while some "natural" alternatives haven't been subjected to the same rigorous evaluation, they've already lost the audience.”
The Language War: How MAHA Wins the Messaging Battle Before Science Speaks
Misinformation and propaganda that he fell for.
“There are fights that are strongly supported by both sides, including air quality in neighborhoods sharing zip codes with industrial facilities, lead and toxins in the water kids are drinking, and the poor quality of the food Americans eat and its clear negative impact on our health.”
Craig Spencer
He should also know that it was our public health systems that helped us get cleaner air and water. And when there was a push for healthier food and increased physical activity (remember Let’s Move?), people pushed back!
“The Obamas had been in the White House for six months, and Michelle had begun to signal that she might use her bully pulpit to encourage healthy eating.”
The great FLOTUS food fight
Public health doesn’t need MAHA.
Public health needs more funding!
Public health needs RFK, Jr and Dr. Oz out of HHS!
Public health shouldn’t be exploited for political gain.
“The field isn’t losing because the science is weak; it is losing because it has treated communications as a garnish rather than as an engine for impact. While our opponents invest in persuasion as a primary tool, public health has largely disinvested in communication as a core infrastructure.”
How Public Health Lost the Narrative – and How It Can Win It Back
Public health needs local health departments fully staffed and funded!
“However, when we peel back the layers, it becomes evident that MAHA is not about true health at all. Instead, it perpetuates harmful rhetoric rooted in weight stigma, misinformation, and fear-mongering.”
Why the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) Movement is Dangerous
Public health needs an HHS led by evidence - not a MAHA agenda that won’t even make us healthier!
More on MAHA
Three Reasons You Should Avoid Going to Anti-Vaccine Autism Conferences
MAHA Propaganda on the Growth of the Childhood Vaccine Schedule
State and Federal Public Health Funding Cuts Are Making Measles Outbreaks Worse
Why the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) Movement is Dangerous
The Language War: How MAHA Wins the Messaging Battle Before Science Speaks
MAHA and science-based public health: Can’t we all just get along?
‘Make Europe Healthy Again’ Launch is Dominated by Anti-Vaxxers and Far Right Politicians
RFK’s Strategy to Address Poor Health of US Children Offers Few Concrete Solutions
How Public Health Lost the Narrative – and How It Can Win It Back