To The Editor:
Let’s think about what is happening to science and medicine under the current Trump administration.
First, Trump appointed the known vaccine sceptic, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services. There is now a measles epidemic across 18 jurisdictions that has affected 378 people so far and killed two children; RFK Jr. refuses to recommend vaccinations (but has recommended cod liver oil!). Further, he recommends that the bird flu be allowed to run through herds in order to achieve “herd immunity,” a ludicrous idea that all bone fide scientists reject.
Trump has now declared war on science and scientific research. He and his administration have stopped communications from health agencies, scrubbed data from their websites, fired hundreds of workers in these agencies, and proposed cutting the budget of the NSF (National Science Foundation) by two-thirds. The premier institution for science, The N.I.H (National Institute of Health), is in complete disarray. They can no longer honor rates they have negotiated for indirect costs on grants (lab space, research equipment, personnel to help patients enroll in clinical trials). As a result, fewer experimental treatments will be given to children, and more children will die. The N.I.H. is no longer able to award grants which means that research into Alzheimer’s, heart disease, addiction and many other diseases cannot continue. And the Senate has now confirmed two critics of the medical establishment to head the F.D.A and the N.I.H.
The fallout is huge and affects people and institutions across the board. Medical schools have paused hiring; labs are firing people who work there; PhD programs at universities are accepting fewer students. Companies that engage in drug development will not be able to do so if the government ceases to support basic science.
America has been the global leader in scientific output for a long time, but that is now changing thanks to Trump’s irrational and inexplicable war against science. China has surged ahead of the U.S.: it awards more science and engineering PhD’s than the US and has surpassed the US in international patent applications and highly cited scientific papers. America is no longer First!
There are so many reasons to question every decision that comes out of the White House now, but this war against science and education is one of the biggest reasons for us to fight for what we believe and what is right. Please join me in becoming educated about all the terrible things Trump and his cronies are bringing to pass and in doing our very best to counter them!
Barbara Gold, Utica, NY
