EXCLUSIVE — Making American men healthy again, from fertility to mental health, is the chief public health aim of Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Brian Christine, who was sworn into office on Friday. 

Christine, who was appointed to the office by President Donald Trump, will lead the charge in developing a men’s health initiative within the Department of Health and Human Services.

A urologist by specialty, Christine’s career as a physician in Alabama almost solely focused on men’s health. He told the Washington Examiner in an exclusive interview that he believes a dedicated men’s health initiative is a central part of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again agenda.

“We have a president who believes in strong, healthy men and strong, healthy women, of course,” Christine said. “We have Secretary Kennedy, who honestly sets a tremendous example for physical fitness, belief in good nutrition, for men to be strong, for women to be strong.”

The assistant secretary for health oversees the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, a uniformed service of healthcare professionals who provide medical services to various federal departments, including the military. Christine was made a four-star admiral during a ceremony at the HHS building on Friday.

Christine said that one of his priorities as assistant secretary will in particular focus on improving male fertility, contributing to the Trump administration’s broader goal of increasing the U.S. birth rate.

On Wednesday, Christine cochaired a panel on hormone replacement therapy for men to address falling testosterone rates. “We have to figure out why testosterone rates and sperm rates are falling because they’re linked to each other,” he said. “Toxins in the environment, perhaps things that are going on, probably a lot of things are coming together to cause those issues.”

Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O’Neill also referenced that the U.S. birth rate has continued on a downward trajectory and is below the replacement rate, the rate necessary to keep a population level stable.

“Chronically low birth rates present a generational challenge to our entire national security,” said O’Neill. “If we want another baby boom in this country, and we do, we need to move America further. In his new role, Brian has already taken massive steps to restore common sense and sound science to HHS.”

Critics have argued that a focus on men’s health would detract from the progress that has been made in advancing women’s health. They point to the exclusion of reproductive-age women from clinical trials, which was only reversed in the 1990s, as evidence that women have historically been excluded from biomedical research. 

But Christine noted that women’s health has made significant strides since then, while men’s health continues to stagnate, if not decline.

“Of the 10 different major killers, 9 of those 10 are led by men, not women. We’ve done amazing things with women’s health in this country. And I’m not for a second suggesting the secretary, or I, are saying we back away from women’s health, never,” Christine said. “We continue to advance, but we need a parallel track of men’s health, because men have unmet needs.”

Women in the United States live, on average, six years longer than men, with male life expectancy reaching only 73 as of 2023, compared to 79 for women.

Depression rates for the sexes are roughly the same, but the suicide rate is four times higher for men than it is for women. Men make up half the population but more than 80% of the over 49,000 suicides each year. American men are also three times more likely to die from opioid use and have higher rates of alcohol abuse.

Targeted efforts to improve men’s mental health will also be a significant focus of Christine’s men’s health goals. “We need men to be strong men. We need women to be strong women. Those two things aren’t the same. It’s not that one is better than the other,” he said.

Christine’s position was previously held by the controversial figure Dr. Rachel Levine, a biological male who identifies as a woman.

In the closing of Christine’s address at the swearing-in ceremony on Friday, Christine made a veiled comment about his predecessor’s gender identity and how his leadership will be different: “I submit to you today that there is no more visible sign of that change than this. I stand before you a man in a man’s uniform.”

Advancing transgender medicine and expanding access to gender transition treatments to minors were a focus of Levine’s tenure. In 2023, lawsuit documents revealed that Levine’s office was involved in pressuring public health organizations, including the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, into relaxing restrictions on gender surgeries for minors. 

In sharp contrast, Christine was deeply involved in HHS’s November report decrying transgender medical procedures for minors, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries.

Christine told the Washington Examiner after the speech that his leadership, alongside Kennedy and the rest of Trump’s health officers, will be transparent and follow what they call “gold-standard science.”

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“We are not going to lie to the American people. We’re not going to hide data. We’re not going to bury data. We are not going to do things for a political, socially warped agenda, as we saw in the Biden administration and under Adm. Levine,” Christine said.

Earlier this week, Levine’s nameplate at the agency was changed to “Richard Levine,” reflecting the former assistant secretary’s name given at birth.

, 2025-12-12 20:33:00, , Washington Examiner, %%https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/cropped-favicon.png?w=32, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/feed/, Gabrielle M. Etzel