Washington, D.C. — U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sparked controversy this week after calling federal public health agencies “broken” and claiming there “haven’t been successes” in decades. Speaking on Fox News, Kennedy argued that HHS and the CDC are on a long-term decline.
But public health experts and historians disagree, pointing to major milestones that have reshaped American health outcomes.
1. Smoking Rates Have Plummeted
From the 1964 Surgeon General’s report linking smoking to cancer to the FDA’s authority to regulate tobacco in 2009, federal campaigns have dramatically reduced smoking. Adult smoking rates fell from 42% in 1965 to just 12% today, according to the American Lung Association.
2. Medicare Drug Coverage for Seniors
The launch of Medicare Part D in 2006, overseen by HHS, gave millions of older Americans affordable access to prescription drugs. Today, it remains a lifeline for seniors managing chronic illnesses.
3. Breakthroughs in HIV/AIDS Treatment
In 1996, NIH-funded research discovered the three-drug therapy that turned HIV from a death sentence into a manageable condition. By 1997, AIDS-related deaths dropped nearly 50%. Global programs like PEPFAR have since saved over 25 million lives worldwide.
4. Covid-19 Vaccines in Record Time
Through Operation Warp Speed, vaccines were developed and distributed within a year of the pandemic’s onset — a process that normally takes a decade. NIH, FDA, and CDC collaboration is credited with saving millions of lives during Covid-19.
5. Childhood Vaccination Programs
The Vaccines for Children Program, launched in 1994, provides free vaccines for families in need. It has boosted childhood immunization rates from 60% to nearly 90% and prevented over a million child deaths.
“Anybody who has the privilege of serving in HHS is usually awed by its many achievements,” said Dr. Howard Ko, former HHS assistant secretary. “Kennedy is setting back public health progress by a generation.” An HHS spokesperson defended Kennedy, saying he believes reform is needed to rebuild trust but affirmed the department’s commitment to protecting Americans’ health.
