The "Make America Health Again" federal commission is officially launched. I'll link to the original document, and I can recommend the excellent Linked In "review & implications" from Thomas Sullivan.
The White House Executive Order, dated February 13, is here:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/establishing-the-presidents-make-america-healthy-again-commission/
Policy Expert Thomas Sullivan has the best overview I know of, and he isn't share about extrapolating some take-home lessons Find his essay on MAHA here:
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AI Corner
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I'd recommend Sullivan's essay above. But, here is an AI review of the same executive order.
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The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission is established by Executive Order (Feb 13, 2025) to address the growing health crisis in the U.S., particularly chronic diseases, mental health issues, obesity, and childhood health concerns.
Key Points:
- Purpose: The U.S. lags behind developed nations in life expectancy and has rising rates of chronic illnesses, mental health conditions, and childhood diseases (e.g., obesity, diabetes, ADHD, autism, fatty liver disease).
- Policy Focus: Shift national health efforts toward prevention, transparency in research, improved nutrition, reduced reliance on medication, and environmental impacts.
- MAHA Commission Composition: Led by the HHS Secretary with officials from Agriculture, Education, VA, EPA, FDA, NIH, CDC, and other agencies.
- Initial Priority: Childhood Chronic Disease—Investigating root causes (e.g., diet, toxins, medication overuse, environmental factors) and proposing solutions.
- Deliverables:
- Within 100 days: Report on childhood chronic disease trends, medication risks, transparency issues, and best practices.
- Within 180 days: A national strategy to reform federal health policies, improve children’s health, and implement effective solutions.
Big Picture
The MAHA Commission seeks to overhaul U.S. healthcare priorities—moving from disease management to prevention and root-cause solutions. The focus is on children’s health first, with plans to expand to broader public health issues.
?? Open access journals?
Yes, the MAHA Executive Order emphasizes transparency and open-source data in federally funded health research but does not explicitly mention open access journals.
Relevant sections:
- Sec. 2(a): Mandates that all federally funded health research should be transparent and open-source, avoiding conflicts of interest.
- Sec. 5(a)(vii): Requires transparency of all current data and unpublished analyses on childhood chronic diseases.
- Sec. 5(a)(ix): Calls for restoring the integrity of science, including eliminating undue industry influence and increasing methodological rigor.
While open access publishing is not directly stated, the order strongly pushes for public access to government-funded research and data transparency.
