HHS Secretary Kennedy Wraps Four-Day Texas and Florida Tour: National Kidney Plan and National Dementia Plan Unveiled, KidneyX Prize Up to $4.67 Million
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said on October 26 that Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had completed a four-day 'Take Back Your Health Tour' last week, visiting Fort Worth, Texas, and Orange Park, Fort Lauderdale and Miami, Florida, where he unveiled a National Kidney Plan and a national plan on Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, and recognized medical schools committed to at least 40 hours of nutrition education. The tour advanced President Trump's Make America Healthy Again agenda.
On October 20, Kennedy joined hospital leaders, kidney specialists and patient advocates at JPS Health Network in Fort Worth for a roundtable on preventing kidney disease, where he announced HHS' National Kidney Plan, built around prevention, patient choice and competition, and transplantation. He also announced an investment of up to $4.67 million through the KidneyX Prize Competition to advance earlier risk identification and practical nutrition and lifestyle approaches that help preserve kidney function. Dr. Karen Duncan, president and CEO of JPS Health Network, said diabetes and hypertension are among the leading causes of kidney disease, underscoring the importance of prevention, early detection and chronic disease management.
On October 21, Kennedy joined Congressman Aaron Bean at Lincoln Memorial University's DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine in Orange Park, Florida, for a roundtable with medical school and hospital leaders. He recognized medical schools that have committed to providing future physicians with at least 40 hours of nutrition education or its competency equivalent, including Lincoln Memorial University, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine and the University of Florida College of Medicine, and recognized Nemours Children's Health for signing the Make Hospital Food Healthier Pledge.
On October 22, at Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, Kennedy joined Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, FDA Acting Commissioner Kyle Diamantas, Senator Rick Scott and Broward Health leadership to announce HHS' National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias, setting federal priorities for the next decade: dementia risk reduction, research and innovation, early detection and coordinated care, and services supporting people living with dementia and their caregivers. Shane Strum, president and CEO of Broward Health, said more than 41,000 Broward County seniors and nearly 600,000 Floridians live with the disease.
Kennedy concluded the trip on October 23 at Noven Pharmaceuticals in Miami, touring hormone therapy manufacturing operations with FDA Acting Commissioner Kyle Diamantas and meeting Noven and Sandoz leaders on improving women's health and making hormone therapy more accessible and affordable. 'President Trump has directed us to confront chronic disease and put patients first,' Kennedy said. 'HHS is moving prevention to the center of American health care and giving patients more control over their health.'
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：卫生与公众服务部部长 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 2025年官方肖像（资料图）。图片：卫生与公众服务部官方照片，公共领域（Wikimedia Commons）。Photo: Official 2025 portrait of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (file photo). Credit: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
