FACT FOCUS: RFK Jr. says the US is limiting measles outbreaks better than the rest of the world

April 20, 2026

By DEVI SHASTRI Associated Press

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said that the U.S., under his leadership, is limiting the spread of measles better than any other country in the world.

His most recent comments came Friday as he testified in his first congressional hearings in months, in which he sought to defend a more than 12% proposed cut to his department’s budget.

THE CLAIM: “The measles outbreak is not an American phenomenon. It is global. It’s happening all over the world. And we’ve done better under my leadership than any country in the world in limiting it.”

THE FACTS: Measles is surging around the world, and other countries have seen bigger outbreaks in 2025 and 2026 than the U.S., including neighboring Mexico and Canada. Overseas, most world regions logged higher case counts than the Americas did in 2025, and an ongoing outbreak in Bangladesh has killed more than 100 children.

But the U.S. is getting worse, not better, at protecting people against the spread of measles, because vaccination rates have been falling. And public health experts have been critical of Kennedy’s response to the rise in measles cases because, instead of forcefully advocating for more vaccinations, he has been reluctant to promote them, cast doubt on their safety and promoted other, untested remedies.

Declining vaccination rates have helped fuel the nation’s biggest surge in measles cases since 1991. And the 2026 case count is already trending higher than last year’s record-breaking total. The U.S. is on the verge of losing its 26-year-old measles elimination status.

Measles is so contagious that it takes a 95% vaccination rate to prevent outbreaks. Nationally, vaccination rates have fallen in recent years from 95.2% in the 2019-20 school year to 92.5% in 2024-25, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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