In a significant announcement, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared on Thursday that the United States would reject a United Nations declaration on chronic diseases. He stated that the declaration overlooked the “most pressing health issues” and fundamentally conflicted with the Trump administration’s opposition to policies it views as promoting abortion and “radical gender ideology.”
Kennedy delivered these remarks during a U.N. meeting focused on preventing and combating pervasive illnesses such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. However, he did not elaborate on which specific health issues he believed had been disregarded in the declaration.
Notably, the U.N. declaration’s text contains no explicit references to reproductive rights or gender ideology. The term “gender” appears in the document solely in the context of health challenges specific to women.
Despite the U.S.’s opposition, the declaration is widely expected to be approved by a majority of the U U.N.’s 193 member states this October.
President Trump, a vocal critic of the United Nations, previously ordered the U.S. to withdraw from the World Health Organization (a U.N. agency) earlier this year. This decision was based on claims that the WHO mismanaged the coronavirus pandemic and failed to implement “urgently needed reforms.”
Public health advocates expressed confusion and disappointment following Mr. Kennedy’s statements, which were also shared on social media. Many noted that the U.N.’s ambitious goals for reducing noncommunicable diseases seemed to align with the Health Secretary’s own “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, which emphasizes chronic illness, childhood obesity, and the impact of ultra-processed foods.
“The health secretary’s comments were disturbing, misleading, and full of contradictions,” stated Paula Johns, executive director of ACT Health Promotion, a Brazilian advocacy group, shortly after Kennedy’s remarks. “He claims the U.S. desires international collaboration on chronic diseases but offers no path for it to happen. Instead, he suggests the U.S. would rather abandon the U.N. process entirely.”
The declaration itself enjoys broad support from global health experts, even with some criticism that earlier recommendations were weakened due to industry influence. These modifications included removing measures like high taxes and prominent warning labels aimed at reducing demand for tobacco, alcohol, and sugar-sweetened beverages. The final draft also completely removed any mention of sugary drinks.
Interestingly, many aspects of Mr. Kennedy’s description of the urgent threat posed by chronic illness closely mirrored those found in the U.N. declaration.
“Chronic disease has more than doubled in a single generation. Millions of children now face shortened healthy lives before they reach adulthood,” Mr. Kennedy emphasized. “This crisis knows no borders; it does not stop at America’s.”
However, he asserted that the U.N. General Assembly had overstepped its authority, and that the United States could not endorse the promotion of abortion and “gender ideology.”
“We believe in the biological reality of sex,” Mr. Kennedy stated. “As President Trump has often said, global bureaucrats have no right to infringe upon the sovereignty of nations dedicated to protecting innocent life.”
The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to requests for clarification regarding Mr. Kennedy’s specific complaints about the declaration’s alleged oversight of certain health issues.
Health experts warn that the threat to withdraw from the U.N. process would only exacerbate U.S. isolation on critical global health challenges. The White House has already taken a solitary stance against reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a position prominently highlighted in recent discussions among world leaders on accelerating climate change efforts.
“The U.S. appears to be attempting to undermine this process, but we don’t believe they can succeed at this stage,” said Alison Cox, policy director at the NCD Alliance, an advocacy organization. “It’s incredibly shortsighted and reckless when facing such an urgent global crisis.”
Ms. Cox highlighted that the current declaration emerged from a months-long negotiation involving civil society groups, health experts, and delegations from numerous member states. “While imperfect, it remains an important accomplishment for global health,” she concluded.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the WHO, has been a strong proponent of aggressive strategies to combat noncommunicable diseases, which tragically account for 17 million premature deaths annually.
In recent months, Dr. Tedros has spearheaded a separate WHO initiative urging countries to increase taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and sugary drinks by 50% over the next decade. He argues that such taxes could generate an estimated $1 trillion for government healthcare initiatives over ten years and prevent 50 million premature deaths over half a century.
“Health doesn’t begin in clinics and hospitals,” Dr. Tedros remarked before Mr. Kennedy addressed the assembly. “It starts in our homes, schools, streets, and workplaces – in the food we eat, the products we consume, the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the fundamental conditions in which we live and work.”