HHS Reduces Millions in Funding to the American Academy of Pediatrics

According to documents obtained by The Washington Post, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has canceled seven grants worth millions of dollars to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). These grants included programs aimed at reducing sudden infant deaths, enhancing adolescent health, preventing fetal alcohol syndrome, and early autism detection, Lena H. Sun and Paige Winfield Cunningham reported on December 17.

“The abrupt loss of funds this week surprised the professional pediatrician association, which has been one of the harshest critics of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s changes to federal vaccine policy,” Sun and Cunningham wrote.

Administration officials cited several reasons for stopping funding to AAP, including the group’s use of “identity-based language,” references to racial disparities and “pregnant people,” and a lack of focus on nutrition and chronic disease prevention in at least one grant program, which they argued conflicts with HHS’s priorities, according to The Washington Post.

Minho Kim of The New York Times reported that HHS confirmed in an email that it had canceled grants to the academy, stating that the awards “no longer align with the department’s mission or priorities.” But it did not respond to an inquiry from The New York Times about which specific research or use of funds the department had found problematic.

On Wednesday, attorneys for the AAP and other medical groups told a U.S. district court judge in Boston that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s changes to immunization schedules and improper appointment of vaccine advisers are causing ongoing harm. “AAP experts say Kennedy’s vaccine policy changes are sowing doubt in vaccines at a time when measles cases are at their highest rate since 1992, threatening the country’s elimination status,” AAP wrote in a press release.