Mass layoffs targeting 10,000 jobs hit US health agencies

US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last week said the layoffs were part of a major reform of his department, aiming to refocus efforts on chronic disease prevention.

According to photos and testimonials posted on social media, employees learned of their dismissal early on Tuesday morning by email or by having their access badges not working when they showed up to work in the morning.

The layoffs affect the Department of Health and Human Services and the federal agencies it oversees, such as those in charge of approving new drugs (FDA), responding to epidemics (CDC) or medical research (NIH).

According to US media reports, several senior officials from these agencies, including Jeanne Marrazzo, who had replaced Anthony Fauci as head of one of the NIH's branches, have been offered reassignment to isolated locations in Alaska or Oklahoma.

"The FDA as we've known it is finished, with most of the leaders with institutional knowledge and a deep understanding of product development and safety no longer employed," said Robert Califf, a former FDA commissioner during the Obama and Biden administrations.

The move comes despite the country facing its worst measles outbreak in years and mounting fears that bird flu could spark the next human pandemic.

Kennedy has alarmed health experts with his rhetoric downplaying the importance of vaccines and even suggesting that avian influenza should be allowed to spread freely among America's poultry.

Including early retirements and so-called "deferred resignations," the total downsizing will reduce the department's workforce from 82,000 to 62,000 employees, according to an official statement last week, saving an estimated $1.8 billion annually -- a tiny fraction of the HHS annual budget of $1.8 trillion.

"We aren't just reducing bureaucratic sprawl," said Kennedy. "We are realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic."

The restructuring plan would consolidate the current 28 divisions of the Department of Health and Human Services into 15, including a new entity called the Administration for a Healthy America, or AHA.

While addressing issues such as America's obesity epidemic and industry-favored food regulations aligns with concerns shared by many in the scientific and medical communities, Kennedy's long history of promoting misinformation about vaccines and questioning basic scientific principles has caused deep concern.

The current measles outbreak has affected hundreds of people -- the overwhelming majority of them unvaccinated -- and resulted in two deaths..