Alison Cox was in the room on Thursday when U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took the mic — and proceeded to throw a monkeywrench into the path of a highly-anticipated United Nations political declaration on non-communicable diseases.

RFK Jr. said the U.S. would "reject it."

"It's a massive disappointment to hear a government step away," says Cox, the policy director for NCD Alliance, a global advocacy group.

The declaration that was being considered at the U.N. General Assembly in New York is the culmination of years of work – and five months of formal negotiations – by governments, health experts and members of civil society. It lays out a roadmap for preventing and controlling non-communicable diseases — like cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer

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