US President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F Kennedy Jnr to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

The decision will put a man whose views public health officials have decried as dangerous in charge of a massive agency that oversees everything from drug, vaccine and food safety to medical research and the Medicare and Medicaid schemes.

“For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation and disinformation when it comes to public health,” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social site as he announced the appointment on Thursday.