ケネディ新厚生長官、「子どもたちの健康奪っている」米機関の縮小示唆

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】米国のロバート・Ｆ・ケネディ・ジュニア新厚生長官は１３日、「子どもたちの健康を奪っている」米国の機関を非難し、ドナルド・トランプ政権が規模縮小を進めている国際開発庁（ＵＳＡＩＤ）と同じ運命をたどるべきだと示唆した。（写真は、米首都ワシントンにあるホワイトハウスの大統領執務室での就任宣誓式の後、握手するロバート・Ｆ・ケネディ・ジュニア新厚生長官〈右〉とドナルド・トランプ大統領）
　米上院本会議は１３日、トランプ氏が厚生長官に指名したケネディ氏の就任を賛成５２、反対４８で承認した。上院共和党トップの院内総務だったミッチ・マコネル議員を除く共和党全員が賛成、民主党全員が反対した。
　ケネディ氏はホワイトハウスでの就任宣誓式で、トランプ氏を称賛。小児慢性疾病の解決を求める２０年間の祈りが天に届き、「神がトランプ大統領を遣わした」として、トランプ氏を「白馬に乗った男」と呼んだ。
　ケネディ氏はＵＳＡＩＤについて、 おじであるジョン・Ｆ・ケネディ元大統領の崇高な意図で設立されたが、もはや「全体主義の邪悪な宣伝者」に成り下がっていると批判。
　ＵＳＡＩＤに対するトランプ氏の最近の行動を支持し、「米国の子どもたちの健康を奪っている機関に対しても同じことをしたい」と付け加えた。
　ケネディ氏は２０２４年大統領選の前、食品医薬品局（ＦＤＡ）を「腐敗している」と批判して解体を表明。国立衛生研究所（ＮＩＨ）についても、慢性疾患の研究を犠牲にして感染症を過度に重視していると非難して、規模縮小を求めていた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2025/02/14-16:53）

Newly confirmed Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday accused US institutions of stealing the health of our children and suggested they should meet the same fate as USAID, which President Donald Trump's administration is working to slash.
On his first day in office, RFK Jr. -- who has spent decades sowing distrust in vaccines and questioning basic scientific facts -- credited divine intervention for his rise to power and immediately fueled concerns that critical health agencies could soon come under attack.
At his White House swearing-in ceremony, following a 52-48 Senate confirmation vote largely along party lines, Kennedy grew emotional recalling his first visit to the Oval Office in 1962.
He also lavished praise on Trump, saying 20 years of prayers to solve chronic childhood diseases were answered when God sent me President Trump, whom he called a man on a white horse.
Kennedy argued that while USAID was founded by his uncle, slain president John F. Kennedy, with noble intentions, it has since become a sinister propagator of totalitarianism.
He backed Trump's recent actions at the humanitarian agency, adding, we want to do the same thing with the institutions that are stealing the health of our children.
Before the 2024 election, Kennedy vowed to blow up the corrupt Food and Drug Administration and called for cuts to the National Institutes of Health, accusing it of overemphasizing infectious diseases at the expense of chronic disease research.
- Environment crusader to anti-vaxxer -
RFK Jr. was once a celebrated environmental lawyer who sued Monsanto and accused climate-change deniers of being traitors.
But for the past two decades he has promoted conspiracy theories linking childhood vaccines to autism and even questioning whether germs cause disease.
During heated confirmation hearings, Democrats pointed to Kennedy's lucrative consulting fees from law firms suing pharmaceutical companies as conflicts of interest.
They also highlighted allegations of sexual misconduct and his claims that antidepressants fuel school shootings.
Yet it was his shift toward Republican positions -- particularly on abortion rights, which he once supported but has since signaled a willingness to restrict -- that won over conservatives wary of his liberal past.
Ultimately, only one Republican opposed him: former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a childhood polio survivor. Democrats were united in opposition.
I will not condone the re-litigation of proven cures, and neither will millions of Americans who credit their survival and quality of life to scientific miracles, said 82-year-old McConnell.
Kennedy dismissed the criticism, claiming his views were mischaracterized and insisting he was simply advocating for common sense policies.
Vaccines should be tested, they should be safe, everyone should have informed consent, he said.
Speaking later on Fox News, he sent mixed signals, stating, I'm not going to take away anyone's vaccine, while also asserting, We lack comprehensive safety studies on nearly all vaccines.
- Make America Healthy Again -
Kennedy found firmer footing with his Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda -- a play on Trump's MAGA slogan -- emphasizing the need to tackle chronic disease by holding the food industry accountable.
A lot of what I'm going to do is about radical transparency, he said on Fox, suggesting plans for more detailed labeling policies.
Kennedy launched an independent presidential bid in 2024, making headlines with bizarre revelations, including claims of recovering from a parasitic brain worm and once decapitating a dead whale.
Last year, 77 Nobel Prize winners signed an open letter opposing his nomination, while some of his harshest critics came from within his own family.
His cousin Caroline Kennedy, a former diplomat, accused him of being a predator who led younger relatives toward drug addiction.
This is a disaster waiting to happen -- and it will happen, Paul Offit, a leading vaccine expert at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, told AFP.
Democratic Senator Patty Murray warned that Kennedy could use his new power to undermine vaccines, including firing the advisory committee that sets insurance-covered immunizations.