Multiple health groups and medical associations called on US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to step down in a joint statement on Wednesday, saying he was disregarding decades of lifesaving science and reversing medical progress.

Axar.az informs, citing Reuters, the statement, signed by more than 20 groups, comes after multiple former directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under both Republican and Democratic presidents have said that Kennedy’s decisions - culminating in last week’s firing of the CDC’s director - are putting Americans’ health at risk.

“Our country needs leadership that will promote open, honest dialogue, not disregard decades of lifesaving science, spread misinformation, reverse medical progress and decimate programs that keep us safe,” the statement released on Wednesday said.

“We are gravely concerned that American people will needlessly suffer and die as a result of policies that turn away from sound interventions,” the statement added.

Signatories included the Infectious Diseases Society of America ; American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology; American Public Health Association; and American Association of Immunologists.