Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says vaccines should “go in the trash” at the World Bank committee during HMCE, 2025

This polarizing stance was stated proudly during the World Bank committee at this year’s HMC Europe. The brand new minister of health in America barged in during the productive conversations about vaccine banks and claimed to sympathize with the group before stating that they all have the same goal of trying where vaccines belong. He said that it was his well-informed opinion that said that they belong “in the trash.” 

Before Mr. Kennedy Junior walked in, however, there were important discussions about the potential of a vaccine bank, a place where nations could have all vaccines readily accessible to them, and have the cost covered by each nation that is a part of the program. This would help bridge the gap between developed and developing nations when it comes to life-saving medication. The delegation of Brazil said that it wanted necessary medication for emergencies, hoping to supply medicine, even when the supply train is disrupted. Germany was in strong support, wanting a systemic change to help make medicine more accessible. 

India wanted to be at the forefront of the program, desiring Indian manufacturers to make the medication and store it as well, hoping to stockpile drugs for when crisis strikes. In simpler terms, India wanted to be involved in every step of the process for a potential global medicinal bank. South Sudan echoed statements said previously, campaigning for a drug bank alongside everybody else, with Tanzania stating their own opinion, and much similarly to Germany, felt very strongly about the topic. They claimed that, as an underdeveloped nation who suffered with diseases that could be prevented by vaccination, they had the most gain and the most need for something like a medicine bank.

However, when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. walked into the committee session, the conversation fundamentally changed. He first stated that he disagreed with his president, Mr. Donald Trump, and wanted America to stay in the World Bank, but wanted to completely reform America’s focus in the World Bank, as well as the general focus of the entire committee. He said there is too much risk when it comes to vaccines, claiming that “very smart people” around him said that they overall have a net negative physical and economic effect on America. He also said that he has met with “many moms” (he then added that these meetings were nearly “30 years ago…”) whose children died “immediately after a vaccination.”

He then went on to echo statements he has said previously, saying how he wants to “MAHA”; make America healthy again. This is in line with many previous statements that he has made in the past, of being overall dissatisfied with the current state of American healthcare and wanting to change it. He wishes to accomplish this by prompting not only Americans, but the world at large to adopt an attitude of eating healthier food rather than focus on things like vaccinations. He urged everybody present at the World Bank committee to change their view of where they should allocate their resources, wishing for them to have a focus on giving the world food rather than vaccines.

The delegation of Ghana pointed out to Mr. R. Kennedy Jr. that, while starvation was a huge problem in his nation, malaria kills many more of their population. He asked the minister of health directly if eating would solve this problem; Mr. R. Kennedy Jr. said it would majorly help and generally diverted the attention away from the solution of vaccines and towards his own proposed solution. After the fact, we were lucky enough to secure an interview with a Ghanan delegate. This is what he had to say;

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had some… interesting things to say today. I found some of his points quite problematic. He proposed that instead of providing medical assistance to countries like Ghana, we should prioritize food distribution. Now, food distribution is definitely an issue—lack of food is a major global concern. However, he then claimed that food is a cure for malaria and other diseases, which is simply not factual.”

When asked to elaborate about when he specifically questioned Mr. Kennedy, the delegate had this to say.

“I asked him directly, "What is your response to malaria?" And he replied that when we have more food in our communities, the prevalence of malaria will go down. But in humid areas with a high prevalence of malaria, we know scientifically that this is not accurate. Instead of focusing on food as a solution to malaria, we should be supplying medical assistance, such as vaccines and proper treatments.”

When asked specifically about Mr. Kennedy‘s general attitude towards vaccines, the delegate said he was “quite negative”, and that he “seemed to be primarily focused on arguing that vaccines are a waste of money and time, and that we should move away from them.” When asked directly if he was generally moving the conversation away from vaccinations and toward his own proposed solutions (aptly food), the delegate replied “yes”.

As the new minister of health for the United States, these statements from Mr. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes many feel quite concerned, as vaccines have proved to be humanity's best line of defence when it comes to disease prevention, and there are concerns that anti-vaccination movements similar to what we faced during COVID could become more prevalent, which is cause for concern among many people.

When asked how this new administration affects US-Ghana relations, he replied “I would definitely say that the relationship between Ghana—and, frankly, every country—and the United States has shifted since the re-election. However, I don’t think enough time has passed to fully understand how impactful those changes will be. Only time will tell.”

Overall, Mr. F. Kennedy Jr.'s statements during a productive meeting proved to shake up debate among the World Bank committee; shifting the conversation from vaccine banking and how to make them more readily available, to sewing doubt of whether vaccines should be used at all, with claims that food is the better solution. That choice of how to best address the issue of disease was up to each of us in attendance at said committee, but one thing was clear to everyone; the United States’ new government members are going to fundamentally change international debate moving forward.