(Reuters) -The United States has objected to the United Nations’ political declaration on non-communicable diseases, with U.S. health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. saying on Thursday it ignored the most pressing health issues.
He did not specify what those health issues were.
“The United States will walk away from the declaration, but we will never walk away from the world or our commitment to end chronic disease,” he said at a U.N. General Assembly session.
The declaration, which is expected to be adopted at the ongoing high-level meeting of world leaders in New York, aims to set an ambitious roadmap through 2030 and beyond for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases and for promoting mental health and well-being.
Kennedy criticized the U.N.’s approach as attempting “too little and too much” and said it was misdirected.
“It exceeds the U.N.’s proper role while ignoring the most pressing health issues, and that’s why the United States will reject it,” he added.
(Reporting by Sriparna Roy and Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Nia Williams)
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