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Samoa’s director general of health says Robert F. Kennedy Jnr’s comments in the United States Senate about the 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa are a “complete lie”.
The country’s health boss called the appointment of Kennedy as health secretary a “disasterfor public health in the world”.
This week, Kennedy, US President Donald Trump’s pick to be health secretary, was questioned in Senate hearings over his time in Samoa during the outbreak, which killed 83 people.
Kennedy claimed tissue samples sent to New Zealand did not show any trace of the virus.
“Eighty-three people died. When tissue samples were sent to New Zealand, most of those people did not have measles, we do not know what was killing them,” he said.
Two nurses in Samoa wearing masks during the measles epidemic in 2019. Photo / Jenny Meyer
But Aiono Professor Alec Ekeroma told RNZ’s Morning Report, that was not true.
“That’s a complete lie. There was only one post mortem – no tissues were sent to New Zealand for the rest of the deaths in Samoa, because it was not necessary, because it was obvious these people died from measles.
“It was obvious these people died from measles, they are clinical measles, and it looked like measles that killed them.”
Ekeroma said he had talked to the former director-general of health serving at the time, who said no tissue samples were sent.
“It was measles, the diagnosis was made, there were many international experts that were on the ground at the time, including medical officers from New Zealand and Australia.
“They were all here, and they can vouch it was measles that killed these people.”
Dr Andrew Old, deputy director-general for public health agency at the Ministry of Health, confirmed to RNZ blood samples or swabs were sent to Australia and New Zealand early during the outbreak which did confirm the virus.
“The samples confirmed the Samoa outbreak had the same measles strain as New Zealand – which had its own outbreak at the time.”
The ministry could not find any trace of tissue samples being sent to New Zealand, Old said.
Ekeroma was scathing about Kennedy’s potential appointment as head of the department of health and human services in the US.
“I think this would be a disaster for public health in the world,” Ekeroma said.
“I think it will be a disaster for everyone – including Samoa.”
During the Senate hearings, Kennedy said his visit to Samoa months before the outbreak in June 2019, had nothing to do with vaccines.
Ekeroma, along with New Zealand vaccinologist Helen Petousis-Harris told Morning Report that while Kennedy did not make lectures on the topic, he did meet with anti-vaccine campaigners in the country and had pictures taken with them.
Ekeroma said the measles outbreak was a tragedy in the country’s history, and vaccination rates had now increased to 80% on the island.
“To have an anti-vaxxer at the top of the United States health system is not good for anyone.”
