The Real Cause of the Decline in Disease Mortality

The Real Cause of the Decline in Disease Mortality
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks in Washington on April 21, 2026. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
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Commentary

An interesting exchange in the Senate occurred between Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Bernie Sanders over the contribution of vaccines to reducing disease mortality. RFK said an indisputable truth: “If you want to talk about why disease mortality disappeared in the 20th century, it was not vaccines ... almost none of it was attributable to vaccination. It was attributable to hygiene, sewer plants, better water supplies, and engineering.”

Jeffrey A. Tucker
Jeffrey A. Tucker
Author
Jeffrey A. Tucker is the founder and president of the Brownstone Institute and the author of many thousands of articles in the scholarly and popular press, as well as 10 books in five languages, most recently “Liberty or Lockdown.” He is also the editor of “The Best of Ludwig von Mises.” He writes a daily column on economics for The Epoch Times and speaks widely on the topics of economics, technology, social philosophy, and culture. He can be reached at [email protected]