On Answering the Call to Action For COVID-19: Continuing a Bold Legacy of Health Advocacy.
J Natl Med Assoc
; 112(3): 324-328, 2020 Jun.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-548329
ABSTRACT
The disproportionately high burden of death and disability observed for racial and ethnic minorities under the Coronavirus pandemic necessitates sustained advocacy by the medical and public health communities around critical determinants of population health. Prompting our advocacy should be the understanding that our collective ability to rebound from such crises may ultimately hinge on protecting and equipping our most vulnerable racial-ethnic minority groups and any susceptible individuals within those populations. If proven effective, recent historic firsts by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Office of Minority Health (OMH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in response to COVID-19 should be championed for permanency within policy, practice and funding. In addition, given the complex history of Black Americans in this country and persistent and substantial Black-white disparities on health and economic measures across the board, some kind of reparations for this group may serve as a logical starting point for further advocacy. Nevertheless, we remain supportive allies of all organizations concerned with communities who suffer the weight of this pandemic and any future world health disasters. Let us as human clinicians and public health professionals capture this moment of challenge and engage in thoughtful unification of effort and commit to measurable progress for as long as the need exists and certainly for the foreseeable future.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Patient Advocacy
/
Pneumonia, Viral
/
Ethnicity
/
Coronavirus Infections
/
Health Status Disparities
/
Healthcare Disparities
/
Health Services Accessibility
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
J Natl Med Assoc
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
J.jnma.2020.06.010
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