1,000 signatures reached
To: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Declare a Measles Emergency
The United States is experiencing its largest measles outbreak since measles was officially declared eliminated in 2000.1 New cases continue to be identified across multiple states as the outbreak stretches.
But despite the scale and duration of this outbreak, the response from the Department of Health and Human Services has been inadequate, leaving the most vulnerable to bear the consequences of inaction.
Instead of declaring a public emergency, during last year’s measles outbreak in Texas, Kennedy Jr. has suggested treatments that medical experts have debunked and called not accurate, and he’s even gone as far as to say that poor diet impacts measles outbreak.
Let’s be clear: Kennedy Jr. and his allies in HHS are responsible for the rise of measles cases and decrease in vaccinations across the country. Kennedy Jr. has done nothing but spread misinformation and distrust in public health and vaccinations. He decreased the amount of recommended vaccines for children from 17 to 12. And the CDC principal deputy director went on the record recently to say: "We have these communities that choose to be unvaccinated…that’s their personal freedom." If the United States loses its measles elimination status, he added, that’s the "cost of doing business."
But the longer this outbreak continues, the more lives are at risk, especially those of infants, immunocompromised people, and those without access to basic care.
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Why is this important?
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has the authority to mobilize the full force of the federal government to get this outbreak under control, but he has yet to declare measles a public health emergency.
But declaring a public health emergency would unlock critical resources, allow the CDC to expand its support to affected states, and send a clear message that the federal government is finally taking this crisis seriously.
And while public health officials and pediatricians are calling for urgent federal action to take meaningful steps to contain the outbreak, especially in states where under-vaccinated communities are at highest risk, RFK Jr. is not moving with urgency.
That is why it’s crucial that we cut through the noise of misinformation and come together to put pressure on the federal government to do everything in their power to stop this epidemic from putting more children in danger.
But declaring a public health emergency would unlock critical resources, allow the CDC to expand its support to affected states, and send a clear message that the federal government is finally taking this crisis seriously.
And while public health officials and pediatricians are calling for urgent federal action to take meaningful steps to contain the outbreak, especially in states where under-vaccinated communities are at highest risk, RFK Jr. is not moving with urgency.
That is why it’s crucial that we cut through the noise of misinformation and come together to put pressure on the federal government to do everything in their power to stop this epidemic from putting more children in danger.