Americans entered 2026 facing a terrifying reality: we are more at risk for illness today than we were a year ago. Why? Not because diseases have become more contagious or dangerous in one year. Rather, it’s because President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., are systematically dismantling the public health infrastructure that helps keep Americans safe.
The evidence is stunning. In 2025, measles crossed 2,200 cases nationwide—the highest number in 34 years. Cases continue to rise, with over 1,280 cases so far in 2026. The United States is even at risk of losing the measles elimination status we earned in 2000. Seasonal flu also continues to rise across nearly half of our states, causing an estimated 340,000 hospitalizations and over 21,000 deaths so far this season as of the first week of March. In Massachusetts alone, flu has already killed over 300 people this season, including eight children.
Amid these dangerous outbreaks, President Trump and Secretary Kennedy are relentless in their anti-science crusade. Last September, we held a press conference the day after Secretary Kennedy promoted his anti-vaccine views, which reject decades of science supporting the safety and efficacy of vaccines, in front of the Senate Finance Committee. In January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced sweeping, unvetted and unprecedented changes to children’s vaccine recommendations, eliminating six vaccines from the list routinely recommended for all children.
These vaccines are why we no longer see 17,000 children become infected with hepatitis B each year—nearly 25 percent of whom would die prematurely from liver disease without the vaccine. We have already witnessed newborn hepatitis B vaccination rates fall 10 percent in the last two years. Vaccines are the reason parents today no longer fear that routine childhood illnesses could permanently harm, disable or even kill their child.
To ignore the science—to toss aside decades of proven research in favor of conspiracy-laden ideology—is not “reform.”
It is reckless. It is immoral. And it is deadly.
President Trump and RFK, Jr. promised to “Make America Healthy Again.” But instead, the administration has done quite the opposite—hollowing out our nation’s health agencies, promoting vaccine mis- and disinformation and leaving us less prepared for the next public health emergency. The measles outbreaks make it obvious: we are fighting yesterday’s diseases—not tomorrow’s. America is getting sicker, not healthier.
On top of eliminating a wealth of knowledge and expertise through mass firings of federal employees at the CDC and HHS, the Trump administration has caused unprecedented harm to scientific research through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH-funded research has powered life-saving breakthroughs for generations, from cancer therapies to vaccines to treatments for rare diseases. It has established our nation as the leader in cutting-edge medical research and trains the next generation of scientists and physicians. Last year, just in Massachusetts, NIH disrupted funding to 18 clinical trials, affecting 13,000 patients. Cutting these grants does not just halt clinical trials and slow innovation—it drives talent out of science, out of public service and out of the country. Just as we are repopulating our hospitals with old diseases, we are crippling scientific innovation in our efforts to tackle them. From all sides, we are robbing our children of a healthier future.
The growing shortage of infectious disease physicians offers a stark example of where this path leads. Last year, fewer than half of infectious disease fellowship programs in the United States were filled with new physicians. Two Massachusetts hospital systems were unable to recruit a single infectious disease trainee. This is not an isolated workforce issue; it is a symptom of a broader collapse. When the government disrespects science, slashes funding, politicizes public health and destabilizes health agencies, fewer young doctors choose careers in public health and infectious diseases. The result? Delayed cancer care, riskier organ transplants and weaker defenses against antibiotic resistance and emerging pathogens.
Massachusetts knows what is at stake. Our hospitals, research institutions and public health departments are national leaders precisely because we invest in science and expertise. But no state—no matter how strong its health system—can compensate for a federal government that abdicates its responsibility. When federal surveillance falters, outbreaks spread faster. When NIH funding is terminated, cures are delayed, sometimes indefinitely. This administration is making us sicker, less prepared and more divided than ever.
Public health is not partisan. Viruses do not care how you vote. Foodborne illness does not stop at state lines. Pandemics do not wait for polling data. The safety of the American people depends on a strong public health system guided by evidence and staffed by professionals who are empowered to do their jobs.
We can still change course. Congress must defend federal health agencies, bolster the voice of CDC subject matter experts, restore funding for medical research, prepare for future pandemics and biological attacks, protect the independence of vaccine and safety decisions and rebuild the civil service that safeguards our communities.
America deserves better than a “Make America Sick” agenda. Our health and our future depend on it.
Edward J. Markey represents Massachusetts in the United States Senate. Rochelle Walensky served as the 19th director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2021 to 2023.
The views expressed in this article are the writers’ own.
