Medical Populism and the Future of Global Health

Populist political leaders around the world have increasingly focused on health issues, promoting anti-scientific agendas, attacking experts, and dramatizing their responses to public health crises. Although Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are prominent examples of this trend of medical populism, it is a flexible, transnational political style that adapts to different national contexts. During the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders of various countries engaged in vaccine skepticism and other forms of medical populism, leaving a legacy of damaged trust in global health efforts.