On April 8, the Director of the Centers for Disease and Prevention (CDC), Rochelle P. Walensky MD, MPH, declared racism a public health threat in a media statement.
The CDC has decided to take action and is leading to the implementation of different methods to address racism as a fundamental driver of racial and ethnic health inequities.
As defined by the CDC, racism is a “system — consisting of structures, policies, practices, and norms—that assigns value and determines opportunity based on the way people look or the color of their skin.”
Dr. Walensky highlighted in her statement that people of color endured the worst impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She continued by saying, “Yet, the disparities seen over the past year were not a result of COVID-19. Instead, the pandemic illuminated inequities that have existed for generations and revealed for all of America a known, but often unaddressed, epidemic impacting public health: racism.”
She added, “Racism is not just the discrimination against one group based on the color of their skin or their race or ethnicity, but the structural barriers that impact racial and ethnic groups differently to influence where a person lives, where they work, where their children play, and where they worship and gather in community.”
Dr. Walensky created an implementation plan that is structured to ensure that the community is informed and addresses the impact of racism on public health.
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The plan, first, aims to study the impacts of social determinants on health outcomes and expand the body of evidence on how racism affects health to provide solutions.
Secondly, the CDC plans on making new and expanded investments in racial and ethnic minority communities and other disproportionately affected communities around the country to help alleviate the racial disparities in America. Then, the CDC plans to expand its internal agency efforts to “cultivate greater diversity and create an inclusive environment.”
Finally, the plan is to launch the “Racism and Health” portal as part of an ongoing commitment to catalyzing public and scientific discourse around racism and health.
Dr. Walensky wraps her statement up by sharing, “I know that we can create an America where all people have the opportunity to live a healthy life when we each take responsibility and work together.”
