‘We have not moved the needle in health disparities’
Health disparities exist in many ways.
A person’s well-being is affected by where they live, access to fresh groceries, access to a quality education, environmental conditions and other socioeconomic factors better known as social determinants of health.
“The data shows that we have not moved the needle in health disparities,” said Renee Mahaffey Harris, President and CEO of Center for Closing the Health Gap. “As we come upon the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday (which was Jan. 15), we haven’t even begun to scratch the surface on the issues that he advocated for while alive.
“The big goal for us is to mitigate the risk of COVID-19, which is disproportionately affecting Black and brown people.”
The CDC has listed racial inequities in healthcare institutions, lack of access to information as well as utilization, higher levels of preventable chronic diseases and COVID-19 testing not being widely available in minority communities are among the many factors resulting in African Americans dying at disproportionate numbers during this pandemic.
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