Pharmaceutical Market Europe • November 2025 • 27
THOUGHT LEADER
When populism meets public health: trust under siege
By Eleanor Read
Over the last few months, health communication has been thrust into the political spotlight. At a White House press conference, President Donald Trump questioned standard vaccine protocols – echoing narratives long propagated by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr – and claimed that exposure to Tylenol in pregnancy was linked to autism.
These assertions were met with immediate backlash. Medical experts dismissed the claims as unfounded. In the UK, Health Secretary Wes Streeting publicly rejected them, citing robust epidemiological evidence showing no causal link between acetaminophen (paracetamol) use and autism.
Meanwhile, in Italy, Health Minister Orazio Schillaci appointed two vaccine-sceptical figures, Eugenio Serravalle and Paolo Bellavite, to the national vaccine advisory group. Both men had publicly questioned vaccine safety, with Serravalle linking immunisation to disorders such as autism, claims dismissed by mainstream science. The response to this decision was swift – within 11 days, the advisory group was disbanded, leaving a vacuum of trust in one of Italy’s most important public health bodies.
Together, these developments underscore a deeper problem: in a polarised, media-saturated era, political leaders are becoming health communicators. Their statements carry weight, even when they defy scientific consensus. The result is a further fracturing of public trust in the health system, including pharmaceutical companies.
When leaders amplify misinformation
Pharma has long grappled with misinformation. What has changed is who is shaping it and how fast it spreads. When national figures question vaccine science or medical norms, the ripple effects reach every corner of society.
Trump’s remarks revived long-debunked theories linking vaccines and autism, dangerous precisely because they came from a sitting president. In Italy, the Health Minister’s appointment of vaccine sceptics signalled to many that scientifically established processes for evaluating vaccine safety could be questioned.
These stories matter. The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer: Trust & Health shows that confidence in health institutions is already fragile. Views once considered fringe are now being amplified at the highest levels, reshaping the conversation around science and medicine.
The stakes for pharma
When misinformation is validated from prominent platforms, pharmaceutical companies face a triple threat:
- Reputational risk – being tarred by association with ‘big pharma’ critiques
- Scientific pushback – constantly defending safety and efficacy in new ways
- Audience fragmentation – losing the ability to engage broad audiences as information ecosystems splinter.
Trust cannot simply be assumed; it must be actively defended. Strategic communication and trust-building are now essential parts of business continuity.
Beyond data: the human trust equation
At Edelman, we believe trust in health is built not just with evidence but through human connection. In an era when prominent voices undermine consensus, messages must be rethought:
- Meet people where they are – especially younger audiences that increasingly source health content via social media, friend groups or online communities
- Tell a credible story – pair rigorous data with lived patient experience, making science tangible and relatable
- Mobilise third-party voices – physicians, patient advocates and scientific communicators can counter polarising rhetoric
- Anticipate crises and missteps – with rapid-response frameworks that counter misinformation before it takes hold.
Recent events underline the urgency. When Trump’s AI-generated ‘medbed’ video surfaced and was later deleted – a conspiracy theory disguised as medical promise – it showed how quickly manipulated content can distort understanding. And when the FDA’s top vaccine official, Dr Peter Marks, resigned in protest against Kennedy’s approach, it signalled a deep rupture between science and policy. These are not hypotheticals; they are live inflection points in public perception.
Reimagining trust as strategy
In this climate, trust becomes a strategic differentiator. Leading companies integrate it into core execution:
- Narrative scaffolding – crafting multi-audience stories that show not just what we do, but how and why, particularly around access, equity and affordability
- Ecosystem partnerships – activating networks of local providers, patient groups and credible clinicians to carry messages in their voices
- Rapid intelligence and listening – using real-time monitoring to detect misinformation trends and enable agile pushback
- Governance transparency – particularly around AI, supply chains and data ethics, proactively communicating safeguards and oversight.
This is the kind of work we help pharma clients with at Edelman, marrying deep healthcare expertise with behavioural insight to build trusted engagement frameworks across markets.
A call to action
We are in a moment where trust in health is under assault, not from science but from distortion. Political leaders are now health experts and their claims carry authority, regardless of merit.
Pharma must respond not defensively, but proactively. It must show up in real time with empathy, credibility and clarity. Staying silent is also not an option – the presumption of today’s public is that those with nothing to say must have something to hide.
We don’t have to accept that the loudest or most controversial voice wins. By treating trust as a living, managed asset and by elevating humanity alongside data, pharma companies can reclaim their role as credible health guardians in an age where every claim is contested.
The question is no longer whether your science is good. It is whether people believe it.
Eleanor Read is Managing Director, Health at Edelman
Pharmaceutical Market Europe (PME)
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