I’m a pediatrician in Texas. Things are dire and we need your support – not your condescension

Nothing I have done is more impactful than a day's work in this battleground in the south, the graveyard of politicians' abandoned promises

The tentacles of disinformation have already claimed its first young victim. This week, an unvaccinated child in Texas died of measles - an entirely preventable disease. Right now, the state is seeing its largest measles outbreak in more than 30 years. Yet at a White House briefing, secretary of health and human services, Robert F Kennedy Jr, falsely noted it is not unusual", and did not offer any plans for containment.

I am a pediatrician in Texas, and I can assure you the situation is so abnormal that most younger physicians have never seen a case of measles, thanks to successful vaccination campaigns.

Seema Jilani is a pediatric physician based in Texas, a first-generation American, and a member of the Council of Foreign Relations