The Political Contagion Threatening Public Health
The anti-vax movement and the rise of measles outbreaks
By Roberto Valadéz
As of November, after more than a year of battling an escalating outbreak, Canada can no longer claim to have eliminated measles from its population according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The U.S.—reporting the highest rate of measles cases this year than in more than three decades—is on track to lose its own elimination status in 2026. This resurgence of a vaccine-preventable disease in North America is not only a frightening reversal of hard-won gains against a once devastating scourge, but a systemic failure in both public trust in science and health security.
The measles vaccine is one of modern medicine’s most stunning achievements. Before the vaccine was developed in 1963, measles was a global epidemic. In the U.S. alone, it infected 3 to 4 million people and caused roughly 500 deaths and 48,000 hospitalizations annually. The introduction of the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine, which provides approximately 97% efficacy after two doses, reversed this trajectory. Decades of targeted vaccination campaigns led to the successful eradication of endemic measles in the U.S. in 2000 and Canada in 1998.
The achievement of “measles-elimination status,” as defined by the WHO, requires stopping the virus from spreading locally for one year. This success relies entirely on maintaining herd immunity, which demands that over 95% of the population be vaccinated. Currently, roughly 90% of kindergartners are vaccinated in the U.S., a rate insufficient to protect communities from outbreaks.
This decline is not accidental. The anti-vaccine movement, rooted in debunked, alarmist claims—notably the scientifically discredited link between vaccinations and autism—has successfully eroded trust in vital public health bodies and, in a deadly irony, has now made our public health leadership less trustworthy with the appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Kennedy’s political authority has weaponized his history of spreading misinformation. His cabinet tenure has already been marked by a systematic dismantling of public health infrastructure, including replacing career scientists on advisory panels with politically-aligned figures and redirecting research priorities to validate disproved studies. This institutional capture of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other agencies is actively undermining evidence-based policy, creating a state-sanctioned source of disinformation that endangers communities across the nation.
There have been over 300 measles cases in the U.S. in 2025 alone. These outbreaks impose a massive economic toll, with societal costs approaching $50,000 per case. The government is literally spending millions to fight a crisis it is now helping to fuel.
The Trump Administration has also compromised the international oversight designed to protect American lives. One of President Trump’s first acts in his second term was signing an Executive Order directing the withdrawal of the U.S. from the World Health Organization (WHO).
The U.S. withdrawal, which immediately triggered significant budget cuts across the WHO, including the Global Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network (GMRLN), is an act of reckless self-harm. International collaborations like the GMRLN are crucial to keep measles and other viral infections from crossing borders, with surveillance and planning efforts that form the front line in detecting not just resurgent diseases but also novel pathogens (in other words, the next pandemic) in vulnerable countries before they reach U.S. shores. By defunding the WHO and other vital public health bodies, the administration is dismantling our early warning systems, increasing the risk to Americans posed by future devastating health crises.
The ongoing measles outbreaks across North America are a cautionary tale that underscores a critical vulnerability in public health security. The resurgence of a disease once declared eliminated is a direct consequence of declining vaccination rates, a trend fueled by misinformation and the erosion of public trust. It is a stark, ongoing warning that even the most well-controlled infectious diseases can rapidly exploit gaps in collective immunity as soon as the proven guardrails of public health are stripped from policy and practice.
Roberto Valadéz is the former director of communications and special initiatives for the United Nations Ambassador for Global Health, where he led high-stakes global campaigns, including the office’s work on COVID-19. As the founder of True You, he now equips underestimated C-suite leaders with the tools to level up their leadership and amplify their impact by harnessing their authenticity.
It is sick that we have to hope that someone "important" has a child infected so that they will see reason. My father had polio as a child and went on to become a physician in this country. He would be appalled at the widespread willful ignorance putting all humans at risk.
Mumps, rubella and polio and others can also make a resurgence as well if children are not vaccinated on schedule or at all.