Neil, thank you for sharing the litany of anti-vaccine rhetoric and actions coming from the US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and others. The death of William Foege, who has been a key figure in public health in the US and worldwide (including the eradication of smallpox, see https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/us/william-h-foege-dead.html?unlocked... ) earlier this month is poignant. He wrote in August, "I had no idea I would be this angry at the age of 89." He died 5 months later.
His obituary is full of stories from his life in promoting vaccinations, but I thought one was particularly relevant for this group. In 1966, during a smallpox outbreak in West Africa, he had to convince authorities to start with what is now called "ring vaccination," rather than traditional mass vaccination, because supplies were limited. The logic of vaccinating those at immediate risk wasn't sufficient to outweigh conventional wisdom, but when he described it using the easily understood example of fire fighting, when one first contains the existing fire and then moves out in concentric circles until it's out, the vaccine campaign was approved and eventually successful. Sometimes information that is clear and logical to one isn't to another, but an easily relatable metaphor can make the unfamiliar concept understandable. Hopefully the evidence and logic that Bill Foege and countless others in public health have followed for decades will soon guide US policy once again before the whole village goes up in flames.
Margaret
Margaret Winker, MD
eLearning Program Director
Trustee
World Association of Medical Editors
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HIFA profile: Margaret Winker is Trustee and Past President of the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) and Director of the WAME eLearning Program. She is based in the US. Professional interests: WAME is a global association of editors of peer-reviewed medical journals who seek to foster cooperation and communication among editors, improve editorial standards, promote professionalism in medical editing through education, self-criticism, and self-regulation, and encourage research on the principles and practice of medical editing. margaretwinker AT gmail.com