More than 20 health groups and medical associations have called on Robert F Kennedy Jr to step down as the United States’ health secretary, accusing him of putting lives at risk by disregarding decades of lifesaving science and reversing medical progress.

In a joint statement published on Wednesday, the groups – including the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American Public Health Association, and the American Association of Immunologists – said Kennedy is forcing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) experts to “turn their back on decades of sound science” to further his agenda.

The groups also accused Kennedy of “repeated efforts to undermine science and public health”, leaving Americans “less safe in a multitude of ways”.

“Our country needs leadership that will

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