‘Make America Healthy Again’ Report Fails to Address Key Factors in Childhood Chronic Disease Prevention, Would Damage Progress on Infectious Diseases

Today the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) Commission released its assessment on childhood chronic diseases. In response, the American Lung Association issued the following statement:

“Addressing chronic diseases in kids is critically important, and the American Lung Association has long prioritized improving the health of kids with asthma and other chronic diseases. But this report is not the path forward. While we share many of the concerns raised in the report regarding the increase of childhood chronic diseases, including asthma, we are also very troubled that this report retreats on some of the most proven ways to protect children from illness.

“Rather than moving forward to address today’s chronic disease challenges, this report would bring us back to an era of when kids routinely died or suffered lifelong harm from preventable infectious diseases like measles, mumps, polio and pertussis. The way to protect kids from chronic illness is not by undermining proven measures that have saved millions of lives – it is by using all the evidence-based strategies at our disposal.  

“The stated priorities in the MAHA report are also at odds with the administration’s own actions that undermine the nation’s response to chronic disease. This report comes on the heels of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services shutting down the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Asthma Control Program and the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health. At the same time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is allowing major polluters to bypass requirements that limit toxic emissions – emissions that worsen asthma and other chronic lung conditions in children. 

“In addition, the President’s own budget request proposes to slash funding for the very programs tasked with preventing childhood chronic disease – including the CDC’s Chronic Disease Center itself. By gutting funding, cutting staff and rolling back health protections, the administration is dismantling the very infrastructure needed to keep kids healthy.

“The report also fails to mention one of the most basic determinants of children’s health: access to care. This is especially striking on the same day that the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would devastate Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act – policies that would take healthcare away from millions of children and families. 

“We urge members of the Commission to revise and expand their report to include proven measures that address asthma and other chronic diseases in kids – including timely vaccinations, clean air protections, tobacco prevention, access to care and sustained public health investments. Only by building on the tools we know work can we truly make progress toward our shared goal: of a world free of lung disease in children.”