Garfield Ekon and Deandrea Hamilton

Editorial Staff

USA, December 3, 2024 – He wants to deflate an over $4 Trillion bill for in health care costs and deliver on his vision to restore good health to Americans, one third of whom suffer obesity.  RFK Jr is widely regarded as a physical Phenom and he has called his alliance with president elect, Donald Trump, ‘an answer to his prayers’ but can he really accomplish his titan sized goals?

Combatting lifestyle illnesses will likely be one the major areas of concentration by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., if he is confirmed by the United States (US) Senate, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

The presumptive Health Secretary has had a long history of concerns about additives in foods, and how big a part ultra-processed foods (UPFs) play in many people’s diets. In a recent post on X, he stated that “ultra-processed food is driving the obesity epidemic,” and argued many times that there is a link between UPFs and a range of medical conditions, including cancers in young adults and mental health conditions.

In a media interview, since the announcement that he has been picked by President-elect Donald Trump, to be the new Health Secretary, Mr. Kenedy said he got three instructions from Mr. Trump: “instructions” to remove “corruption” from health agencies, to return these bodies to “evidence-based science and medicine”, and “to end the chronic disease epidemic”.

Regarding his controversial stance on vaccination, he said vaccines were “not going to be taken away from anybody,” as he wants to improve the science on vaccine safety which he believes has “huge deficits” and that he wants good information so people “can make informed choices.”

Ultra-processed foods are usually characterised by industrial processing, the presence of food additives such as flavors or colors, and nutrients intended to make them appetising (sodium, added sugars, and saturated fat). Research points to ultra-processed foods being associated with diet-related diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.

Obesity and dementia are two such consequences of UPFs as well.

These and other diet-related conditions account for at least half of all U.S. deaths, disproportionately impacting black, indigenous, low income, and rural Americans, and contribute to $4.5 trillion in annual health care costs.

In recent times, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had taken a number of steps to help people build healthy diets, including with respect to ultra-processed foods but it is believed by those who subscribe to the RFK Jr perspective on health, that these government entities may be compromised.

“We are betraying our children by letting (food) industries poison them,” Kennedy offered at a Trump rally in November, after having suspended his own run for the presidency.

Statistics support his concern.  Thirty percent of American teenagers are pre-diabetic.

Kennedy, a father of seven and one of 11 children himself is on the record many times blaming big pharmaceutical companies for undermining the mission of good health by proposing drugs as the only solution.

“We have to start loving our children more than we hate each other.  When we have healthy kids we can do anything in this country.”

But the list of the problems with the quality of food and the over indulgence in drugs often promoted by RFK Jr is met with skepticism and push back.  Take for example, Dr. David Nunan, from the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine (CEBM) says “multiple factors, including broader lifestyle, socioeconomic determinants, and healthcare access, need to be considered. Studies to date cannot reliably separate out the individual impact of UPFs from these other factors.”

The Republican Party has now officially been confirmed as having control of both the House and the Senate following the November 5 general elections in the United States.  Still, it is expected that Kennedy, who is the founder of the world’s largest clean water advocacy group, Waterkeeper Alliance, is also a children’s health advocate, an environmental  lawyer and was named TIME Magazine’s ‘Hero of the Planet’ will face deep scrutiny due to his unconventional diagnoses.

The HHS comprises several agencies and offices including the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

As Secretary of Health, the individual has the authority to establish regulations that govern health, including food and drug safety, public health and health care quality, and can declare public health emergencies and coordinate federal responses to health crises, such as disease outbreaks or natural disasters.

Garfield Ekon

Staff Writer

December 3, 2024 – The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season came to a close on Saturday, bringing to an end a season that saw 11 hurricanes compared to the average seven, and death and destruction hundreds of miles from where storms came ashore on the United States (U.S.)  Gulf Coast.

Meteorologists called it a “crazy busy” season, due in part to unusually warm ocean temperatures. Eight hurricanes made landfall, in the U.S., Bermuda, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Grenada.

Hurricane Beryl became the first Category 4 hurricane on record to form in the month of June, slamming into the island of Carriacou in Grenada. In Jamaica it went on to destroy crops and houses and left two dead. The last time the island was scraped by a Category 4 hurricane was Dean in 2007, making it “pretty rare,” said Brian McNoldy, a hurricane researcher at the University of Miami.

The storm then intensified into the earliest Category 5 hurricane ever in the Atlantic on July 1. Major hurricanes — Category 3 and above — are not usually seen until September 1, according to the National Hurricane Center.

In September, Hurricane Helene caused catastrophic damage across the southeastern U.S. and was the deadliest storm to hit the U.S. mainland since Katrina in 2005. More than 200 people died. North Carolina estimates the storm caused at least $48.8 billion in direct or indirect damages with houses, drinking water systems and farms and forests destroyed. Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia also sustained extensive damage.

In October, Hurricane Milton rapidly intensified and the storm’s maximum wind speeds hit a screaming 180 mph, making it one of the strongest hurricanes by wind speed ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico. The only one stronger by that measure was Hurricane Rita in 2005.

The areas where Helene and Milton struck saw as much as three times their usual rainfall for September and October, the heart of the Atlantic hurricane season. For Asheville, Tampa and Orlando, the two-month period was the wettest on record.

In November, Hurricane Rafael reached 120 miles per hour (MPH), and was nearly the strongest November hurricane on record in the Gulf of Mexico, tying with Hurricane Kate in 1985. Rafael made landfall in Cuba and battered the island as it was trying to recover from widespread blackouts caused by Hurricane Oscar in October.

Planet-warming gases like carbon dioxide and methane released by transportation and industry are causing oceans to rapidly warm. Several factors contribute to the formation of hurricanes, but unusually warm oceans allow hurricanes to form and intensify in places and times we don’t normally anticipate, McNoldy said.

“In other words, we never had a storm as strong as Beryl so early in the season anywhere in the Atlantic and we never had a storm as strong as Milton so late in the season in the Gulf of Mexico,” he said.

Garfield Ekon

Staff Writer

December 3, 2024 – Following the detection of a Clade I variant case for the first time in the region, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) says countries of the Americas, including the Caribbean, need to maintain mpox surveillance.

PAHO said the Clade I case was reported by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on November 16. Clade I has historically caused more severe illness and death than Clade II.

In an epidemiological alert, issued by the health organization on Tuesday, PAHO urged countries to remain vigilant and “to continue with their surveillance efforts, with a special emphasis on high-risk groups.”

“The individual had a history of recent travel to East Africa and was treated shortly after arrival in the United States,” PAHO said. “Health authorities are working to identify and follow-up with potential contacts.”

To date, no further cases of Clade I have been detected in the region, PAHO said. It said that, between January 2022 and October 31, 2024, 115,101 confirmed cases of mpox, including 255 deaths, were reported in 123 World Health Organization (WHO) member-states.

PAHO noted that, on August 14, 2024, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus determined that an upsurge of mpox due to Clade Ibin the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and a growing number of countries in Africa constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).

In the Americas, PAHO said the highest number of mpox cases was recorded during 2022, peaking in August 2022. This was followed by a progressive decrease in cases that has continued throughout 2023 and 2024 and all cases in the Americas, except for the recent imported case of Clade Ib, were due to Clade II, PAHO said.

Symptoms include fever, intense headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy, swollen lymph nodes, and a skin rash, or mucosal lesions, PAHO said. It said the rash tends to be concentrated on the face, palms of the hands, and soles of the feet, but can also be found on the mouth, anogenital region and eyes.

In the alert, PAHO also reminded all member states to continue surveillance efforts to characterize the situation and respond rapidly in the event of an introduction of Clade I mpox virus.

“Efforts should focus on early detection and diagnosis, isolation and contact tracing,” PAHO urged. “While vaccination can help prevent infection for people at risk, ‘mass vaccination against mpox in the population is neither required nor recommended.’”