Dark Clouds Gather Over a Golden Age of Public Health

World Bank Group. Life expectancy at birth. World Bank Group, 2024. Accessed November 30, 2025. https://data360.worldbank.org/en/indicator/WB_WDI_SP_DYN_LE00_IN?average=WLD

Lohiya A. The origin and practice of public health. In: Malik S Chhachhar V Kumar Mishra M , eds. Public Health Issues: Theory and Practices. Springer; 2025:Chapter Two.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Ten great public health achievements–worldwide, 2001-2010. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2011;60(24):814-818.

Shattock AJ Johnson HC Sim SY , et al. Contribution of vaccination to improved survival and health: modelling 50 years of the Expanded Programme on Immunization. Lancet. 2024;403(10441):2307-2316. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(24)00850-X

Logan M. FDA claims 10 child deaths caused by covid-19 vaccine, vows to tighten vaccine approvals. BMJ. 2025. Accessed December 7, 2025. www.bmj.com/content/391/bmj.r2546

National Academy of Sciences. Statement on CDC’s updated vaccine guidance, 2025. Accessed December 1, 2025. https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/statement-on-cdc-s-changes-to-guidance-on-vaccines-and-autism

Califf RM von Eschenbach AC Friedman MA , et al. A threat to evidence-based vaccine policy and public health security at the FDA [published online ahead of print December 3, 2025]. N Engl J Med. doi:10.1056/NEJMp2517497

Lo NC Maldonado Y Chu HY Hotez PJ Kiang MV. Modeling the health impact of discontinuing COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy in the US. JAMA Pediatr. 2025;179(12):1353-1355. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.3561

Sampri A Shi W Bolton T , et al. Vascular and inflammatory diseases after COVID-19 infection and vaccination in children and young people in England: a retrospective, population-based cohort study using linked electronic health records. Lancet Child Adolesc Health. 2025;9(12):837-847. doi:10.1016/S2352-4642(25)00247-0

Copland E Patone M Saatci D , et al. Safety outcomes following COVID-19 vaccination and infection in 5.1 million children in England. Nat Commun. 2024;15(1):3822. doi:10.1038/s41467-024-47745-z

World health Organisation. Poliomyelitis, 2025. Accessed December 7, 2025. https://www.who.int/health-topics/poliomyelitis#tab=tab_1

Wahid B Kumari B Saifullah KM Idrees M. The history and current killings of polio vaccinators in Pakistan: a need for targeted surveillance strategy. Asia Pac J Public Health. 2023;35(2-3):183-188. doi:10.1177/10105395231158866

World Health Organisation. Statement of the Forty-third meeting of the Polio IHR emergency committee. WHO, Published November 11, 2025. Accessed December 1, 2025. https://www.who.int/news/item/11-11-2025-statement-of-the-forty-third-meeting-of-the-polio-ihr-emergency-committee

Imburgia TM Katzenellenbogen RA. Benefiting us all-population-level impact of the HPV vaccine. JAMA Pediatr. 2025;179(12):1270-1272. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.3575

Smith M Killen J Jamieson L , et al. Reaching and expediting cervical cancer elimination in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women: the impact of scaling up prevention measures, 2025. Accessed January 3, 2026. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5398615.

Antoni S Ferrari M Wimmer A , et al. Progress towards measles elimination—worldwide, 2000–2024. Weekly Epidemiol Record. 2025;100(48):591-604.

Friedman J . How snake oil became a symbol of fraud and deception. Smithsonian Magazine. Published October 21, 2024. Accessed December 1, 2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/

Qian M Chou SY Lai EK. Confirmatory bias in health decisions: evidence from the MMR-autism controversy. J Health Econ. 2020;70:102284. doi:10.1016/j.jhealeco.2019.102284

Norrby E. Yellow fever and Max Theiler: The only Nobel Prize for a virus vaccine. J Exp Med. 2007;204(12):2779-84. doi:10.1084/jem.20072290

Binns C Low WY . mRNA Vaccines, Public health, and the Nobel Prize. Asia Pac J Public Health. 2024;36(1):5-7. doi:10.1177/10105395231223284

World Health Organisation. Hepatitis B vaccine. 2025. Accessed December 7, 2025. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hepatitis-b