Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said that the U.S., under his leadership, is limiting the spread of measles better than any other country in the world.<\/p>\n
His most recent comments came Friday as he testified in his first congressional hearings in months, in which he sought to defend a more than 12% proposed cut to his department\u2019s budget. <\/p>\n
THE CLAIM: \u201cThe measles outbreak is not an American phenomenon. It is global. It\u2019s happening all over the world. And we\u2019ve done better under my leadership than any country in the world in limiting it.\u201d<\/p>\n
THE FACTS: Measles is surging around the world<\/a>, and other countries have seen bigger outbreaks in 2025 and 2026 than the U.S., including neighboring Mexico<\/a> and Canada<\/a>. Overseas, most world regions<\/a> logged higher case counts than the Americas did in 2025, and an ongoing outbreak in Bangladesh has killed more than 100 children<\/a>.<\/p>\n But the U.S. is getting worse, not better, at protecting people against the spread of measles, because vaccination rates have been falling. And public health experts have been critical of Kennedy\u2019s response to the rise in measles cases because, instead of forcefully advocating for more vaccinations, he has been reluctant to promote<\/a> them, cast doubt on their safety<\/a> and promoted other, untested remedies<\/a>. <\/p>\n Declining vaccination rates have helped fuel the nation\u2019s biggest surge in measles cases since 1991. And the 2026 case count is already trending higher than last year\u2019s record-breaking total<\/a>. The U.S. is on the verge of losing its 26-year-old measles elimination status<\/a>.<\/p>\n Measles is so contagious that it takes a 95% vaccination rate<\/a> to prevent outbreaks. Nationally, vaccination rates have fallen in recent years from 95.2% in the 2019-20 school year to 92.5% in 2024-25, according to data<\/a> from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. <\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute\u2019s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n