MAHA’s Vision for Changing Public Health Forever

Written by Dr. Alejandro Diaz on April 18, 2025. Posted in Current News

“A healthcare system that promotes disease reversal and prevention,” Calley Means mentioned at Politico’s Health Care Summit on April 2nd. Means currently serves as a Special Government Employee and advisor to HHS Secretary Kennedy

Means is one of the individuals spearheading the MAHA movement in Kennedy’s first months at HHS. He laid out the vision for MAHA going forward.

Additionally, in late March, Michael Knowles interviewed Secretary Kennedy at the White House’s Podcast Row event.

From their public appearances, both Means and Secretary Kennedy have made it clear that the vision transcends their four-year tenure.

They intend to end the chronic health epidemic and have a lasting impact on the relationship between industry, government, and the general public. As a main point, Means stressed the incentive issues behind the failing public health system.

MAHA’s vision places the chronic disease burden at the center of its agenda. The United States, despite its expenditures in health compared to GDP being one of the highest rates in the world, and demonstrably having some of the highest quality of physicians in the world, maintains some of the worst outcomes in terms of pediatric chronic disease in the developed world.

MAHA understands that the math doesn’t add up. Something is fundamentally wrong.

In this publication, I frequently mention Biopolitiks and its relevance and influence on the current geopolitical climate. This revolution at HHS is precisely that. The problems that the new administration intends to address are issues that encompass broader economic and social themes in society.

Both Means and Secretary Kennedy have placed reversing chronic comorbidities specifically in the most vulnerable pediatric population as one of the central tenets of their immediate agenda.

As a Pediatrician, I have seen these issues mentioned by Secretary Kennedy and Calley Means firsthand. I think they accurately describe two of the most pressing issues facing the pediatric population and, more broadly, the general population today.

These are chronic obesity and mental health issues.

These issues demonstrate the failures in the incentive structures behind the modern sick-care system. Beginning with food and childhood obesity. During his Podcast Row interview, Secretary Kennedy mentions to the Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles that currently, people are consuming “food-like substances”, not actual food.

This is the result of a chain reaction beginning with academia and the public health research circles and eventually reaching standards of care in medicine.

For example, a USDA study from July 2023 studied ultra-processed foods and their place in our dietary patterns. The conclusion they reached is that it is possible to build a “healthy dietary pattern” with a diet consisting of up to 91 percent calories originating from ultra-processed foods.

It is for this reason that Secretary Kennedy is forced to mention the need to return the “gold standard of science” to the public health agencies of the United States. A science that breaks the pattern of sick-care.

This sort of faulty science, including studies such as those mentioned above, triggers a chain reaction that begins with promoting artificial diets in children, leading to increased rates of childhood obesity.

A fundamental element is considering the effects of the COVID operation on these issues. As I have discussed previously in this publication, the COVID operation was one of the most tragic periods in the history of public health, not because of the severity of the infectious disease element, but because of the policies that derived from the fabricated chaos.

Probably the most demonstrable data point from this tragedy is the decay in pediatric mental health outcomes.

The data overwhelmingly supports this argument. The monthly dispensing rate of antidepressants in adolescents and young people, although already on the rise prior to the COVID Operation, was exacerbated significantly following the implementation of the nationwide lockdown policies in March 2020.

I want to stress this point specifically because of its triggering effect on other sectors of society. I decided to consult with an expert about this. Dr. Jorge Zapatel is a San Diego-based, Harvard-trained Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist.

When I posed the question of the increasing reliance on psychotropic drugs in pediatric patients without a significant improvement in outcomes, and an increase in completed suicides in various populations, he provided interesting data that showcase these points.

While the COVID Operation may not be the origin, it was a significant catalyst for the exacerbation of this chain reaction in pediatric comorbidities. Simply put, children were separated from their habitual environment for nearly two full school years, unable to leave their homes or be in contact with peers of the same age.

Instead of addressing the underlying issue with lifestyle modifications, many physicians have resorted to increasing psychotropic reliance in children and adolescents.

Dr. Zapatel adds…

“In the US vulnerable populations such as foster children and families with medicaid are treated by nurse practitioners and psychiatrists who over prescribe and misdiagnose, often with polypharmacy.

The lack of quality psychotherapy and parental guidance , inadequate academic and social support in the schools adds to relying on psychotropic medications which are NOT in most cases the solution to a psychiatric disorder.”

The polypharmacy that Dr. Zapatel mentions refers to the use of multiple psychotropic medications simultaneously, the effects of which are mostly unstudied.

Instead, Dr. Zapatel suggests a more holistic approach to the issue. Citing that the neurobehavioral effects of these therapeutics are not fully understood. He mentions that “Non-pharmacological approaches, such as therapy and behavioral interventions, should be considered as first-line treatments when appropriate.”

These therapeutics should be utilized in an “individual approach”, Dr. Zapatel mentions. He cites the difference between the rate of psychotropic dispensation in the United States and comparable European countries.

Although it is interesting to investigate these issues separately, it is also worth noting how interconnected they are. Particularly, the determining factors of gut health and their implications in mental health outcomes.

The infamous gut-brain connection is very real. Medical literature demonstrates the very real link between these two. The public health landscape is at an extremely complicated point, with infectious disease “threats” and the clear chronic disease epidemic.

Why do I mention this?

The COVID operation demonstrated the importance of narratives in public health. The message is important, but the messenger is also vitally important. Swaying popular opinion against the efforts of Kennedy’s HHS by spreading fear surrounding the current infectious disease situation, for example.

This only impedes the public health efforts being put forth by the administration. Public health necessitates collaboration between different sectors of society, the government, and, most importantly, cooperation from civil society.

Hence, my point, in public health, the rules are as follows: whoever controls the narrative controls the situation.

The diagnosis made by the MAHA team is correct, and by the electoral results of last November, the public seems to overwhelmingly agree.

However, the process of implementation and execution will be much more difficult than anyone can imagine.

See more here substack.com

Header image: Medpage Today

About the author: Dr. Alejandro Diaz is a Pediatric Allergist / Immunologist and Global Health Expert with extensive international experience, most recently named Chief of Pediatric Medicine at The Wellness Company. He has delivered conferences in over 27 countries around the globe on topics of medicine, migration, biosecurity, and related topics. This includes prestigious venues such as the White House, the US Capitol, the Romanian Parliament, the European Parliament in Brussels, the Mexican Senate of the Republic, the United Nations in Geneva, Japanese Parliament, among others. His career encompasses diverse roles in healthcare, including private practice, health systems, and advisory positions for medical service companies, governments, and government entities worldwide.

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