NOW: New Executive Order Leads America's Health Revival as RFK Jr. Takes HHS Helm
America has just took the exit ramp off the long, failed highway of disease management towards a better direction to ensure our healthcare system actually promotes health.
How exactly?
We now see the first vestiges of a blueprint emerging in the form of President Trumps first Executive Order with Robert F. Kennedy Jr officially at the helm of U.S. Health and Human Service.
The order, titled Establishing the President’s Make America Health Again Commission is now the founding document outlining where we are at, where we need to go, and what directions need to be aimed at to get there.
What’s clear during the first read-through of the document is that the days of petty pot shots and baseless smears upon RFK Jr. the public endured for years, up through and during his confirmation process, are over.
The adults are in the room and are stating their intentions to go to work on the ideals that propelled both Trump and RFK Jr. to populist symbols of change.
The order directs all departments and agencies to “aggressively combat…reversing “….rising rates of mental health disorders, obesity, diabetes, and other chronic diseases.”
Federal funding will now prioritize “gold-standard research on the root causes of why Americans are getting sick.”
The work extends beyond the medical space.
“…agencies shall work with farmers to ensure that United States food is the healthiest, most abundant, and most affordable in the world” states the order. A revolutionary act in and of itself.
The newly-formed council will advise the President on how best to exercise his authority to address the childhood chronic disease crisis.
In order to do this, the council and federal funds will “study the scope of the childhood chronic disease crisis and any potential contributing causes, including the American diet, absorption of toxic material, medical treatments, lifestyle, environmental factors, Government policies, food production techniques, electromagnetic radiation, and corporate influence or cronyism”
Of particular note regarding the assessment and strategy of the council’s assessment and strategy will be the following:
(iii) assess the prevalence of and threat posed by the prescription of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, stimulants, and weight-loss drugs;
(iv) identify and report on best practices for preventing childhood health issues, including through proper nutrition and the promotion of healthy lifestyles;
(v) evaluate the effectiveness of existing educational programs with regard to nutrition, physical activity, and mental health for children;
(vi) identify and evaluate existing Federal programs and funding intended to prevent and treat childhood health issues for their scope and effectiveness;
(vii) ensure transparency of all current data and unpublished analyses related to the childhood chronic disease crisis, consistent with applicable law
The council will also tackle conflicts of interest that have long-hurt public trust – a herculean task in the shadow of the failed pandemic response.
To those ends, a framework for transparency and ethics will be created to review industry-funded projects. Enforcement of this process will be key for its success.
The hopeful work to shift the weary direction of American health is just starting.
Per this Executive Order, an official strategy shall be delivered in 180 days to “address appropriately restructuring the Federal Government’s response to the childhood chronic disease crisis, including by ending Federal practices that exacerbate the health crisis or unsuccessfully attempt to address it, and by adding powerful new solutions that will end childhood chronic disease.”
The public is watching every moment and at every step of this process. Action and accountability will be key.