Category Archives: 02. Medicine

Public health

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Ebola

In 2014, after a New York physician returned from treating Ebola patients in West Africa and showed symptoms of the disease, Trump tweeted that if the doctor had Ebola, “Obama should apologize to the American people & resign!”[203] When the doctor was later confirmed to have developed ebola in New York, Trump tweeted that it was “Obama’s fault” and “I have been saying for weeks for President Obama to stop the flights from West Africa. So simple, but he refused. A TOTAL incompetent!”[204] Trump also criticized President Obama’s decision to send 3,000 U.S. troops to affected regions to help combat the outbreak (see Operation United Assistance).[205]

As Dr. Kent Brantly returned to the U.S. for treatment, Trump tweeted that U.S. doctors who went abroad to treat Ebola were “great” but “must suffer the consequences” if they became infected and insisted that “the U.S. must immediately stop all flights from EBOLA infected countries or the plague will start and spread inside our ‘borders.'”[206] When an Ebola patient was scheduled to come to the U.S. for treatment, Trump tweeted, “now I know for sure that our leaders are incompetent. KEEP THEM OUT OF HERE!”[207]

Trump’s suggestion on the Ebola crisis “would go against all the expert advice being offered,” with doctors warning “that isolating West Africa would only make the Ebola outbreak much worse, potentially denying help and supplies from getting in,” and possibly destabilizing the countries and contributing to the disease’s spread outside West Africa.[205]

Zika

On August 3, 2016, Trump called the Zika virus outbreak in Florida “a big problem”.[208] He expressed his support for Florida Governor Rick Scott‘s handling of the crisis, saying that he’s “doing a fantastic job”.[208] When asked if Congress should convene an emergency session to approve Zika funding, Trump answered, “I would say that it’s up to Rick Scott.”[208] On August 11, 2016, Trump said that he was in favor of Congress setting aside money to combat the Zika virus.[209]

Vaccines

Trump believes that childhood vaccinations are related to autism, a hypothesis which has been repeatedly debunked.[210][211] The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Autism Speaks patient-advocacy group have “decried Trump’s remarks as false and potentially dangerous.”[211]

In 2010, the Donald J. Trump Foundation donated $10,000 to Generation Rescue, Jenny McCarthy‘s nonprofit organization that advocates the incorrect view that autism and related disorders are primarily caused by vaccines.[212]