"South Africa’s scientists have been responsible for key breakthroughs against major global killers, including heart disease, H.I.V. and respiratory viruses such as Covid-19...But a swift series of executive orders and budget cuts from the Trump administration have, in a matter of months, demolished this research ecosystem."
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/health/south-africa-medical-research-trump.html
The New York Times · South Africa Built a Medical Research Powerhouse. Trump Cuts Have Demolished It.
![Heather Cox Richardson 5/11/2025
National Institute of Health Pushes Back on Politicization of Health and Human Services Scientists Fear Retaliation
The administration’s policies continue to gather opposition. More than 90 scientists at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, signed & another 250 supported anonymously a letter sent to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. & NIH leader Jay Bhattacharya titled the Bethesda Declaration. The scientists used as a model Bhattacharya's own October 2020 Great Barrington Declaration, which echoed the political plan of the first Trump White House and called for ending any attempt to control Covid-19 instead letting it spread.The Bethesda Declaration said: "[W]e dissent to Administration policies that undermine the NIH mission, waste public resources, harm the health of Americans & people across the globe." ...the leaders of NIH and members of Congress who oversee it are prioritizing “political momentum over human safety & faithful stewardship of public resources.” They called out the politicization of research by stopping high-quality, peer reviewed grants & contracts, thus throwing away “years of hard work and millions of dollars,” risking the health of participants in studies, and damaging public trust.They noted that some of the signers felt they had to remain anonymous while others, “due to a culture of fear and suppression created by this Administration[,] chose not to sign their names for fear of retaliation.”](https://media.mstdn.social/media_attachments/files/114/670/719/390/327/340/original/6f59a7c4da6a88db.jpeg "Heather Cox Richardson 5/11/2025
National Institute of Health Pushes Back on Politicization of Health and Human Services Scientists Fear Retaliation
The administration’s policies continue to gather opposition. More than 90 scientists at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, signed & another 250 supported anonymously a letter sent to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. & NIH leader Jay Bhattacharya titled the Bethesda Declaration. The scientists used as a model Bhattacharya's own October 2020 Great Barrington Declaration, which echoed the political plan of the first Trump White House and called for ending any attempt to control Covid-19 instead letting it spread.The Bethesda Declaration said: \"[W]e dissent to Administration policies that undermine the NIH mission, waste public resources, harm the health of Americans & people across the globe.\" ...the leaders of NIH and members of Congress who oversee it are prioritizing “political momentum over human safety & faithful stewardship of public resources.” They called out the politicization of research by stopping high-quality, peer reviewed grants & contracts, thus throwing away “years of hard work and millions of dollars,” risking the health of participants in studies, and damaging public trust.They noted that some of the signers felt they had to remain anonymous while others, “due to a culture of fear and suppression created by this Administration[,] chose not to sign their names for fear of retaliation.”")
