US Secretary of Health Robert Kennedy Jr. promised Thursday that a study by health authorities would establish "by September" the causes of what he calls an "autism epidemic."
"We have launched a research effort that will involve hundreds of scientists from around the world. By September, we will know what caused the autism epidemic. And we will be able to eliminate those factors," RFK Jr. said during a government meeting at the White House.
An announcement that was immediately welcomed by President Donald Trump, who was present in the room. "There's something that's causing it," he assured, suggesting some of his own possibilities: "It's possible that we need to stop taking something, or eating something, or maybe it's a vaccine."
And to point out the "terrible" increase in cases of autism, a neurodevelopmental disorder, recorded in the country in recent years.
A subject dear to both the Republican president and his health minister, vaccine skeptic Robert Kennedy Jr., who have both repeatedly suggested in recent years the controversial idea that vaccines could be responsible.
RFK Jr., a controversial figure, has repeatedly linked the mandatory MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine to autism, a theory based on a rigged study and repeatedly refuted by subsequent studies.
Despite the existence of these elements, he ordered a new investigation into the matter in March.
Asked by AFP about the announcement of this new study on the causes of autism, the Ministry of Health did not immediately provide any details.
According to figures from the CDC, the country's main health agency, the prevalence of autism cases has fallen from 1 in 150 for children born in 1992 to 1 in 36 for those born in 2012.
An increase that should be considered with caution, however, due to the progress made in diagnostics which could explain their increase.
Although there is no single identified cause to date, several environmental factors have been put forward, such as neuroinflammation or taking certain medications such as the anti-epileptic Depakine during pregnancy, as well as genetic predispositions.
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