Right-wing conservative embrace of propoganda and conspiracy theories in health

Opinion.

As American Republicans begin confirmation of their key departments including a known anti-vaxxer for Secretary of Health–Robert F Kennedy Jr., and as the White House strips massive funding for key health research and innovation programs (like cancer), it’s seems the current mayhem is not merely a part from the right-wing political playbook, but also a revelation on how way right-wing populists treat evidence and science.

Far-right populists are significantly more likely to spread fake news on social media than politicians from mainstream or far-left parties, according to a study which argues that amplifying misinformation is now part and parcel of radical right strategy.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/11/far-right-mps-fake-news-misinformation-left-study

“Higher levels of [populist radical-right] attitudes, trust in non-traditional media, reliance on social media for political information, & lower levels of education predicted a higher online exposure to disinformation.”

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0736585325000127

This includes incredulous and harmful ‘health’ ideas that in fact are harmful including the ‘raw’ craze white conservatives are embracing randing from ‘raw water‘, to ‘raw milk‘.

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Flu Spikes as Covid Continues

In many regions in North America, since Christmas, the spike in influenza A has been pronounced, curiously with COVID numbers slowing during the same period. This acts a reminder for many to not only update your seasonal vaccinations in flu and COVID, but to continue protecting yourself from respiratory infections. Some regions showing spikes in flu not seeing since the height of the pandemic.

calgary south flu a 2025

Profits from Largest Private Health Corporations in US

Here are the largest private health insurance companies in the USA, along with their market share and revenue:

– UnitedHealth Group: 15.7% market share, $215 billion revenue
– Elevance Health (Anthem): 9.7% market share, $133 billion revenue
– Kaiser Permanente: 9.2% market share, $126 billion revenue
– Centene (Ambetter): 8.6% market share, $116 billion revenue
– Humana: 7.3% market share, $100 billion revenue

US private health insurance companies are a useful component in the ecosystem of health care provision. They only exist to enrich themselves and are built to continuously increase profit for their shareholders which means delivering the least amoung of health provision to their customers. A single-payer system would enhance healthcare access, and it would be significantly less expensive, simply by eliminating the unnecessary middle-man that is private health insurance. It’s that easy for the USA.

N95 Masks almost 100% effective in block viruses like COVID-19

Despite what internet consiracy theorists (read most Republicans/Conservatives) are trying to purport, the efficacy of wearing well fitted n95 masks is naerly 100%. That’s right, wearing a mask work really really well as the primary measure to mitigate infections. Why aren’t more wearing it? A combination of cultural issues where wearing a mask is considered countercultural, and simply the unwillingness to stay healthy. Most folks would prefer to get sick constantly in the never-ending carousel of inheriting more and more disabling sicknesses from repeated viral infections.

Wear your mask!

Study link: https://sph.umd.edu/news/study-shows-n95-masks-near-perfect-blocking-escape-airborne-covid-19

The Scam of Vitamin D Supplements

One doctor made one superfulous claim with questionable data and the supplement industry used him to sell billions in vitamin D. Here’s more:

https://news.immunologic.org/p/vitamin-d-can-we-finally-stop-beating

The wellness industry is a convergence of logical fallacies, lack of regulatory oversight, financial motives, and preying on the desire to do what’s best for our health. It brings in $5.6 Trillion every year and is wildly unregulated. Products range from relatively benign (vitamin supplements) to the seriously harmful (IV infusions, ozone enemas, urotherapy). Many utilize a common tactic in pseudoscience: make claims based on a grain of truth, and this will give you immediate credibility.

Vitamin D is a poster child of this. Yes, it’s an essential micronutrient. Yes, it is critical for key cellular processes. Yes, deficiencies can cause issues like rickets.

Wave after Wave of Covid Infections Continue

One of the worst public healthcare disasters of our generation, perhaps even century, is the communication surrounding COVID-19. Namely, that COVID IS airborne, yet communicated by most public health officials with droplet precautions; and that COVID is no more harmful than the flu, which is also false. COVID-19 is SARS. The flu is the flu. The two shall never meet. The long-term damages of COVID-19, particularly in the vulnerable and those who continuously get the virus with repeated sickness, are mounting without clear tracking of both damages and scale in the population. Couple that along with cultural attitudes that the pandemic is over and widespread masking (or any masking for that matter) is no longer needed nor valued, and the continuation of a deadly and rapidly disabling disease continues to proliferate.

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Monkeypox Mpox cases 2023

The summer wave of Monkeypox seems to have waned six months later with cases dropping to around an annual low. The six month decline is now consistent, basing for what could possibly be another increase in the Spring and Summer months. With the continued rise of COVID and its variants, and the known damage it inflicts on the immune system, it is not outside of the realm of reason or immunology to expect case numbers to rise. The question will be, how high will they go? Past the 2022 high watermark? The US and the world will ind out in 3-6 months, and perhaps a notable trend direction change in a month or two.

2023 COVID Variants to Complicate Pandemic Response

Chart shows the uptick from Christmas related to COVID reported cases. Note, many jurisdictions including the USA and Canada no longer have widespread testing or reporting. This is a phenomenon to get the public to accept the ongoing harm. It also make sit hard for the general public to get a sense of the real-time COVID-19 danger in a particular area without good data. Wastewater testing data is one tool but it is merely one.

Currently, an expanding population in most countries that fall into the “done with COVID-19” segment. Part of this is attributed to cumulative exhaustion. We all would prefer to move on with our lives despite the relative risk. However, there exists a denial where the notion of “risk” is down-played by the “COVID is just the flu” crowd. This position has been completely debunked yet the rumors/idea persists largely due to ineffective public health messaging. Politicians have a short-term outlook on their own careers, and even more left-leaning science-based political parties are doing away with COVID-19 messaging including public mask wearing.

So where does this take us?

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Monkeypox Declared World Health Emergency

A week after the WHO declared monkeypox a word health emergency (as they did with COVID) governments around the world are following suit, including the United States.

Temporary Recommendations issued by the WHO Director-General in relation to the multi-country outbreak of monkeypox
https://www.who.int/news/item/23-07-2022-second-meeting-of-the-international-health-regulations-(2005)-(ihr)-emergency-committee-regarding-the-multi-country-outbreak-of-monkeypox

Cases in the US are approaching 10000 as vaccine acquisition ramps up.

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