MAHA summit to place prevention at center of push to reshape American health
Baltimore Sun

MAHA summit to place prevention at center of push to reshape American health

Jonathan M. Pitts, The Baltimore Sun | September 28, 2026

WASHINGTON — The Make America Healthy Again movement plans to bring some of the nation’s most powerful health officials together Tuesday with doctors, scientists, technology executives, food industry leaders, wellness entrepreneurs and athletes for a daylong summit examining an ambitious question: What would it take to make Americans healthier — and what roles should government, business, ...

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announces on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, new federal funding for mental health and substance use programs at an Easterseals MORC location in Clinton Township, Michigan.

Anne Snabes/The Detroit News/TNS


WASHINGTON — The Make America Healthy Again movement plans to bring some of the nation’s most powerful health officials together Tuesday with doctors, scientists, technology executives, food industry leaders, wellness entrepreneurs and athletes for a daylong summit examining an ambitious question: What would it take to make Americans healthier — and what roles should government, business, technology and individual behavior play in potential changes?

The second annual MAHA Summit, at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, will cover topics ranging from the food Americans eat and the cost of health care to cancer detection, artificial intelligence, psychedelic medicine and environmental health. Vice President JD Vance and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are scheduled to close the program with a joint conversation in the late afternoon; Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin are among the other administration officials set to participate.

Running through the sprawling planned agenda is a core MAHA argument – that American medicine has long focused too heavily on treating chronic disease after it develops and not enough on preventing it. Organizers say this year’s summit is intended to move the movement beyond diagnosing that problem and toward solutions.

Participants are expected to explore how healthier food might be produced and made affordable at scale; whether earlier detection and prevention can reduce cancer and other chronic diseases; whether health care can become less expensive by keeping people healthier before sickness develops; and how federal agencies might reshape regulations to advance those goals.

The conference will look markedly different from a conventional health-policy symposium, bringing government officials into contact with entrepreneurs, wellness personalities, athletes such as boxing legend Mike Tyson and former big-league baseball pitcher Noah Syndegaard, and media celebrities including the comedian-podcaster Russell Brand.

“Reversing America’s chronic disease epidemic requires all hands on deck, from the grassroots to the boardroom,” said Alex Hardy, the CEO of MAHA Holdings, the nonprofit sponsoring the event. “The MAHA Summit reflects the breadth of this movement, uniting parents, scientists, entrepreneurs, farmers, and policymakers around that common goal. Together, our coalition can turn the tide on this crisis and Make America Healthy Again.”

The day is to feature 15 panel discussions, all in the hotel ballroom. Kennedy and Vance are scheduled to round out the day with what organizers are calling a fireside chat at 5:00 p.m.

________

Recommended For You.