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Topics: Politics, US News, Donald Trump, Mental Health
Rhiannon Ingle
Topics: Politics, US News, Donald Trump, Mental Health
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has just pledged to 'eliminate' the cause of what he has called an 'autism epidemic' in just a few months' time.
On Thursday (10 April), the 71-year-old Health and Human Services Secretary said during a meeting of President Donald Trump's Cabinet that he expects his agency will be able to find the cause of such an 'epidemic' by September of his year.
"At your direction, we are going to know by September," he said. "We've launched a massive testing and research effort that's going to involve hundreds of scientists from around the world."
RFK continued: "In September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic and we'll be able to eliminate those exposures."
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Autism, or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental condition which is characterised by an individual's challenges with social interaction, communication, and repetitive behaviours or interests.
It's a spectrum which means the severity and presentation of symptoms vary greatly from person to person.
RFK's comments will likely anger many people, especially such individuals in the autism community who do not view being autistic as something to be 'eliminated'.
According to the CDC, some people with autism spectrum disorder have 'a known difference, such as a genetic condition. Other causes are not yet known'.
"Scientists believe there are multiple causes of ASD that act together to change the most common ways people develop," the official agency adds.
Following RFK's remarks, Trump congratulated him on his goal and said, without citing any scientific backing, that autism could be caused by 'something artificial' and 'maybe it's a shot'.
"There will be no bigger news conference than that [...]," Trump said. "If you can come up with that answer where you stop taking something, you stop eating something, or maybe it's a shot.
"But something's causing it."
Later speaking to Fox News, RFK - who is known for his staunch anti-vaccine views and has spread debunked claims that vaccines cause autism - said the National Institute of Health (NIH) would oversee the study and that it would look into 'everything'.
"We're going to look at everything. Everything is on the table - our food system, our water, our air, we will find out what’s triggering this epidemic," he claimed.
"We know it is an environmental toxin that is causing this cataclysm. Through research at NIH, we will find an answer to this question."
For decades now, scientists have been researching what genetic or environmental factors might contribute to autism which has seen diagnoses in the States increase significantly since the year 2000.
Such experts have said that some of the major drivers behind the recent increase in autism rates in the US are an expanded definition of the condition that includes more types of behaviours as well as more widespread awareness and diagnoses.
The CDC has previously explained that several studies have investigated whether there is a connection between vaccines and autism and 'to date, the studies continue to show that vaccines are not associated with' autism.