The MAHA movement will continue to reshape US health policy

The slogan “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) is just 1½ years old, but the movement it represents will drive broad sections of US health policy this year, people who follow the field tell C&EN. They expect to see changes in vaccine guidance, pharmaceutical regulation, and health and nutrition research, though the movement also faces opposition.Many of these changes will be driven by Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary and MAHA figurehead Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his staff at HHS agencies. MAHA is a diverse coalition; its proponents favor disparate approaches to extend US life expectancy and reduce chronic disease. Some want to avoid pharmaceutical interventions and treat food as medicine (PDF). Some want to deregulate certain drugs, such as psychedelics; others want to increase regulatory barriers to vaccines and other treatments.“The MAHA agenda is not . . . formulated in a way that is entirely understandable,” says Josh Michaud, an associate program director with the health policy organization KFF. “There’s a lot of different bits and pieces.” A September strategy document (PDF) enumerates over 100 policy aims. C&EN contacted several press offices within HHS and six MAHA-affiliated advocacy groups to ask how the movement plans to prioritize these and other goals in 2026. None responded.Further changes to vaccine policy are all but assured. Last year political appointees at the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moved to restrict access to vaccines against COVID-19 and hepatitis B. More changes to the childhood vaccination schedule are