Racism in pediatric health

SPECIAL REPORT Since the inception of the United States, social, economic, political, and scientific institutions have been built on a foundation emphasizing the inferiority of individuals related to phenotypic differences.1 This hierarchy ensconced white individuals as superior to all other groups with Native Americans and Blacks on the bottom. Some fifty years after the discovery of the genetic code, at a White House ceremony in 2000 to announce the discovery, Craig Venter, a pioneer of DNA sequencing, observed, "The concept of race has no genetic or scientific basis. With structural or institutional racism, there is decreased access to health care and resources for education, leading to lower health literacy and fewer health care providers of color.12'13 Over time, this has led to a distrust of the health care system as a whole by POC due to widely publicized historical events such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the Marion tuberculosis outbreak. [...]non-Hispanic Blacks have a higher prevalence of recurrent asthma exacerbations and hospitalizations than Whites after adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic factors.16 One study revealed that with non-Black children, poor children were 45% more likely than children who were not poor to have asthma.

2020 National Medical Association Pediatric Section Annual Program Abstracts

The mission of the National Medical Association (NMA) Pediatric Section is to provide comprehensive state-of-the-art and up-to-date material related to the most recent advances in pediatrics, and to assist the practicing pediatrician to continue to provide the best practices as dictated by evidence-based medicine. The NMA Pediatric Section is the forum to encourage research among its members and trainees in pediatrics, and address health issues of national importance to the pediatrician and their constituents. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, overt racism, and police brutality, the health and safety of children and adolescents, particularly those of color, cannot be minimized. These manifestations of toxic stress and other adverse childhood experiences significantly impact pediatric developmental and behavioral health. Educating the Section on the development and delivery of a vaccine to combat SARS-CoV-2 is essential to ensure positive outcomes in our patients. These topics, along with other significant disorders affecting African American youth (HIV, sickle cell disease, vaping and substance use) were all highlighted in the 2020 NMA Pediatric Section Annual Program.

Health Disparities and Their Effects on Children and Their Caregivers During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has uncovered long-standing health disparities in marginalized communities, including racial and ethnic minorities and children with underlying medical and social problems. African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans have higher rates of COVID-19 infections and deaths than their population percentages in the United States. Unique populations of children, including children with developmental disabilities, children in the foster care system, children with chronic medical problems, and children who are homeless are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 infection. This article explores how the COVID-19 pandemic superimposed on health disparities directly and indirectly affects children, adolescents, and their caregivers.