Americans' trust in federal health agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its childhood vaccine recommendations is declining, and more than twice as many people think the administration's policies have made the country less healthy as those who think they have made the nation healthier, according to the latest Axios/Ipsos American Health Index poll.
The poll included 1,125 representative US adults and was conducted from October 10 through 13 by the Ipsos Knowledge Panel.
Trust in CDC drops from 66% to 54%
The survey found that 54% of respondents trust the CDC, down from 60% in June and 66% in December 2024, before President Donald Trump took office. Trust in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) likewise has ebbed, from 60% last December to 52% in the current poll.
This increasing mistrust is primarily driven by Democrats, whose trust in these agencies has dropped since June. "There certainly is an erosion of trust, primarily driven by Democrats, but Republicans are not immune," said Mallory Newall, Ipsos vice president for US public affairs, in an Axios news release.
Among all adults surveyed, 74% agree that parents should follow the CDC's child immunization schedules, down from 81% in March. The share who "strongly agree" has fallen from 51% to 39% over that period, "likely reflecting both shifts in trust toward the CDC as well as in attitudes about childhood vaccines," according to the Ipsos news release.
Democrats are more than twice as likely as Republicans to strongly agree that parents should follow CDC vaccination schedules (59% vs 28%), with Independents at 36%. Most survey respondents (55%) said CDC guidance has no bearing on their decision about whether to get an updated COVID-19 vaccine.
The proportion of adults who oppose vaccine mandates for public schools, meanwhile, has grown, from 19% in March to 26% in the current poll.
4 in 10 say new policies make us less healthy
Running counter to claims by the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, 41% of US adults say that healthcare policies enacted by Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have made the country less healthy, compared with 19% who feel they've made Americans healthier. Thirty-six percent say they haven't made much impact.
In March, 27% of Americans believed that Trump's and Kennedy's policies had made the nation healthier.
This question also spotlighted a wide partisan divide. Three fourths of Democrats (75%) say the policies have made us less healthy, compared with 3% who say they have made us healthier. That compares with 42% of Republicans in the "healthier" camp and 13% in the "less healthy" camp. Forty percent of Independents say new US policies have made Americans less healthy.
There certainly is an erosion of trust, primarily driven by Democrats, but Republicans are not immune.
In addition, although 58% heard Trump's unsubstantiated claim of a likely link between women taking acetaminophen (Tylenol) during pregnancy and autism in their offspring, only 19% believe it. In contrast, 43% reject the connection, and 37% say they're not sure.
Again, views on the link follow partisan lines. A strong majority of Democrats (72%) believe there is no link between use of the drug and autism in children. But only 21% of Republicans say there is no link, while 33% say the link is likely, and 44% are not sure.
Mistrust on food safety and desire for clearer guidance
Mistrust toward federal health agencies is also evident when it comes to food safety, according to survey findings. For example, 69% of Americans believe foods containing pesticides or artificial dyes are unsafe to eat even when FDA-approved, and just 47% say they trust federal food safety standards.
Americans want clearer public health information: 91% say food safety guidelines should be easier to understand, and 87% want clearer vaccine recommendations. In addition, 70% support strengthening food safety inspections.
A strong majority of respondents (78%) say it can be confusing to follow official guidance about what is good for you. And more than half (54%) say they don't have time to worry about health and wellness every day.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points for the entire sample.
