Originally published on www.childrenshealthdefense.org by Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D.
The "Make Europe Healthy Again" (MEHA) initiative to tackle Europe's rising chronic disease crisis launched Wednesday at the European Parliament. Backed by medical experts, policymakers, Children's Health Defense and other advocacy groups, MEHA will promote preventive health, individual autonomy and national sovereignty.
"Make Europe Healthy Again" (MEHA), a new initiative tackling Europe's growing chronic disease crisis, officially launched on Wednesday at the European Parliament in Brussels.
The movement -- inspired by the "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) initiative led by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. -- aims to "break cycles of chronic disease, promote vitality, and honor culture, sovereignty, peace, and human dignity" while encouraging national sovereignty and individual autonomy, according to its stated mission.
Children's Health Defense (CHD) is among the organizations participating in MEHA, which is backed by a coalition of medical experts, policymakers and civil society groups.
Health freedom activist and podcaster Dan Astin-Gregory, a member of MEHA's steering committee, told The Defender, "MEHA is inspired by MAHA's health reform and public mobilization in the U.S., but it is not directly affiliated, though there is already substantial cross-border collaboration."
Astin-Gregory said MEHA "will operate as a distinct European effort that adapts the original MAHA mission" to the culture of Europe and its region, adding that the initiative "includes prominent figures from the European health freedom space."
Mary Holland, CEO of CHD and a member of MEHA's steering committee, said the movement "is being led by great friends to CHD and promises a non-partisan, renewed effort to make people healthy."
Anesthesiologist Dr. Louis Fouché, a member of MEHA's steering committee and leader of its French chapter, said the initiative draws direct inspiration from the MAHA movement, which "has galvanized U.S. efforts to combat institutional corruption and chronic disease epidemics." He added:
"Like MAHA, MEHA seeks to depoliticize science, dismantle corporate capture of health agencies, and root medical practice in gold-standard evidence blended with traditional and complementary approaches.
"Both movements target root causes -- such as ultra-processed foods, pesticides and environmental toxins -- while advocating for preventive strategies over reactive interventions."
European health systems face 'deep systemic failures'
MEHA's mission is guided by seven core principles, according to its website. Among them are self-determination, sovereignty, science with integrity and an understanding of health as a natural state.
"MEHA's mission is to protect the essentials of life -- clean food, air, water and earth -- while empowering communities to make choices aligned with human dignity and ecological balance," said Sayer Ji, chairman of the Global Wellness Forum and founder of GreenMedInfo. Ji is a member of MEHA's steering committee.
MEHA's framework "emphasizes health as wholeness, stewardship of the earth, and sovereignty of both body and nation," Ji said. "These are not slogans -- they are coordinates for civilization's renewal."
Dr. Robert W. Malone -- a physician-scientist and biochemist who is co-chair of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices -- said during the launch event:
"If we're not allowed to govern our own bodies and what medical treatments we accept, then there can be no personal freedom and there can be no proportionality. The cornerstone of this ethical structure is the principle of patient-informed consent, which was widely violated during COVID."
Fouché said MEHA collaborates with European Union (EU) parliamentarians "through evidence-based briefings, workshops and resolutions to advocate for science integrity, chronic disease prevention, and institutional accountability."
The idea to establish MEHA emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, "which exposed deep systemic failures," according to Fouché.
These failures include "a healthcare system transformed into a profit-driven 'industry of disease,' where science was politicized, corporations captured public institutions and frontline providers faced oppressive regulations like speech restrictions and prescription limits," he said.
"MEHA was born as a response -- a call to heal institutions, restore rigorous science, integrate modern and traditional medicine and prioritize systemic prevention over treatment," Fouché said.
Europe facing 'continent-wide chronic disease surge'
MEHA's participants noted that although Europe's chronic disease burden differs from that of the U.S., both regions face similar health challenges.
Astin-Gregory said:
"While Europe bans some U.S. food additives, it faces major chronic disease burdens, including cardio-metabolic disease, cancer and respiratory disease, rising obesity in many member states, ultra-processed food consumption concerns, and environmental health risks like air and water pollution."
Fouché said Europe is facing "a continent-wide chronic disease surge -- cancer rates up 20% since 2010, metabolic disorders affecting 1 in 3 adults." He added:
"Unique European challenges include persistent pesticide use, such as glyphosate -- still authorized despite bee die-offs, long-supply-chain monocultures eroding food sovereignty, and EU-wide regulatory capture by multinationals via the EU's Common Agricultural Policy.
"Add to this the post-COVID fallout -- eroded trust in institutions, rising mental health crises from isolation mandates, and data commodification under the Digital Services Act, trampling medical privacy."
MEHA participants said corporate capture and weak democracy in U.S. and European governing bodies drive many of these problems.
Dr. Maria Hubmer-Mogg, an Austrian family physician and founder of MEHA, said the European Commission -- the EU's unelected executive branch -- controls EU health policy, even though its regulations heavily influence national health systems.
Speaking at the MEHA launch, Hubmer-Mogg said:
"The people should know and be aware that 80% of their country's policies stem from within the EU. The European Medicines Agency … is closely linked to the Commission and it is not an independent drug authority.
"With over 85% of its revenue derived from industry fees, the agency is financially dependent on the very companies whose products it is supposed to regulate."
British cardiologist Dr. Aseem Malhotra, an adviser to MAHA and member of MEHA's executive board, told launch attendees that reining in corporate influence is key to the success of both movements.
"If we want to make Europe healthy again, if we want to make America healthy again, corporate power must be a public health priority. I'm for a free market, but I'm not for a freedom to deceive the market," Malhotra said.
Corporate capture has created "a combination of biological, social, and environmental and psychological factors" that perpetuate the chronic disease crisis in both Europe and the U.S., he said.
Malhotra, along with Andrea Lamont-Nazarenko, Ph.D., MEHA's chief strategic officer, co-authored an article published last week in the journal Science, Public Health Policy and the Law stating that the public deserves "formal, unequivocal apologies from governments and medical bodies" for COVID-19 vaccine mandates and for "silencing truth seekers."
Malone said the Treaty on European Union's principle of subsidiarity limits the EU's regulatory and decision-making power to issues that member states cannot effectively manage on their own.
However, "the current European council appears to be routinely violating this central principle," according to Malone. He cited "counterproductive decisions centrally made and then forced on EU member states" during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking at MEHA's launch event, public health physician and biotech consultant Dr. David Bell said such institutional capture is "the inevitable outcome … of stale bureaucracies partnered with the imperative of commercial greed." He added:
"We should, however, be encouraged by signs of a pushback against its administrative nanny state and the increasing reach of globalism into our state's jurisdictions such as health. This meeting is a good example of that and of turning back towards a human rights-based approach."
Gerald Hauser, an Austrian member of the European Parliament, said during Wednesday's event, "We need a health policy that serves our people and not the interests of the pharmaceutical industry. If we band together, we can make Europe healthier again and set it back on the right track."
MEHA offers 'a new template for governance'
MEHA participants said the movement will actively pursue collaborations with the MAHA movement, European national governments, local communities and similar initiatives around the world.
During a press conference in Brussels today introducing the European initiative, Hubmer-Mogg said MEHA is "a big global movement." She added:
"We are not linked to one political party. We are not linked to one group. We want to offer solutions, but we don't want to go to countries and tell people what to do.
"We are asking especially European countries, and of course not only EU nations out there, what are your needs? What is going on with your health systems? What is going on in your countries? Please reach out to us. We want to meet you. We want to set up meetings. We want to have our experts give you information on how you can improve the health of your citizens."
Hubmer-Mogg called on local officials and policymakers across Europe "to reach out to us" for data and expertise on health-related issues and invited young people throughout Europe to join MEHA's youth committee.
Astin-Gregory noted that several current and former members of the European Parliament, including Hauser, supported Wednesday's launch. Patriots for Europe Foundation, which is linked to the Patriots for Europe, the third-largest political grouping within the European Parliament, also supported the initiative.
The movement will actively engage a wide range of European Parliament members, groups and committees across the political spectrum, Astin-Gregory said. He added:
"Collaboration also extends to national movements and partners in member states to localize priorities. Many European nations were represented amongst the guest speakers [at Wednesday's launch], as well as from across the wider world, which demonstrates the appetite for the movement to grow."
Fouché said while much of MEHA's initial support has come from the European right, the movement has actively reached out to left- and center-leaning groups on issues like environmental toxins and healthcare worker protections.
"MEHA's apolitical stance -- focusing on shared goals like trust restoration -- seeks to broaden appeal, much like MAHA's cross-aisle U.S. traction," Fouché said.
While MEHA and MAHA are collaborating, the two groups are independent, and MEHA is "tailored to Europe's regulatory landscape," according to Fouché.
At today's press conference, Malone said MEHA's operational autonomy is reflective of the Trump administration's desire to "partner with other nations to help them solve their own [health] problems, rather than the United States telling other nations how they should solve their own problems."
Ji said, "Europe has long been a custodian of cultural wisdom and scientific inquiry. MEHA honors that heritage while offering a new template for governance -- one where citizens and lawmakers co-create solutions rooted in transparency and respect for life."
Watch the European Parliament MEHA launch event:
Watch today's MEHA press conference:
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