Kennedy vows to find autism cause by September, experts express doubt
Global News
The United States will identify the cause of autism by September, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Thursday.
The United States will identify the cause of autism by September, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Thursday, setting a deadline for an answer that has eluded scientists for decades.
Autism diagnoses in the United States have increased significantly since 2000, intensifying public concern. By 2020, the U.S. autism rate in eight-year-olds was 1 in 36, or 2.77 per cent, up from 2.27 per cent in 2018 and 0.66 per cent in 2000, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“At your direction, we are going to know by September. We’ve launched a massive testing and research effort that’s going to involve hundreds of scientists from around the world,” Kennedy said at a meeting of President Donald Trump’s cabinet.
“By September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic and we’ll be able to eliminate those exposures,” Kennedy said.
While the government has not released details of its plans, Kristyn Roth, chief marketing officer for advocacy group the Autism Society of America, questioned whether September would be an achievable target.
Calling rising rates of autism an epidemic is “incredibly irresponsible and deeply concerning,” Roth said, adding that it “encourages fear, paranoia” and stigmatizes the autism community.
“Autism is a lifelong developmental condition that affects people in many different ways,” Roth said.
Trump in February ordered the creation of a “Make America Healthy Again” Commission made up of Kennedy and other secretaries to look at everything from the rates of autism and asthma in children to how much medicine is being prescribed to them for ADHD or other conditions.
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The United States will identify the cause of autism by September, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Thursday.
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