Racism is Officially a Public Health Crisis, According to New York City

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New York City has declared racism a public health crisis, joining more than 200 municipalities, health agencies and officials across the country calling for efforts to address the impact of racism on health and advance health equity.

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Health organizations aim to tackle the effects of racism on health

According to the American Public Health Association, various entities and elected officials have denounced the harmful effects of racism on health and announced efforts to address it.

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For example, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in April that racism was “a serious public health threat that directly affects the well-being of millions of Americans” and “the health of. [the] entire nation “- calling attention to the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on communities of color.

To combat the effects of racism on health outcomes, Walensky said the CDC plans to make new investments in racial and ethnic minority communities and expand internal efforts to foster greater diversity. In addition, the CDC launched a “Racism and Health” portal to draw attention to the impact of racism on disease rates and life expectancy among different groups.

Additionally, the American Medical Association (AMA) released a report in May acknowledging its own troubling history and pledging to “play a greater role” in promoting health equity. In the report, WADA outlined a three-year plan of action, which included mainstreaming social and racial justice into all areas of the organization and building alliances with physicians and stakeholders historically marginalized and minorized.

In a statement, WADA President Gerald Harmon said that while the organization has a lot of work to do, his plan is “a step forward on a much longer journey.”

NYC declares racism a public health crisis

The New York City Board of Health on Monday declared racism a public health crisis and passed a resolution calling on the New York Department of Health to ensure a “racially just recovery” from the Covid pandemic -19, reports the New York Times.

New York Health Commissioner David Chokshi said the Covid-19 pandemic has “amplified inequalities, resulting in disproportionate suffering borne by communities of color in our city and across our country.”

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“Why do some non-white populations develop serious illness and die from Covid-19 at higher rates than whites? Said Chokshi. “The underlying health issues definitely play a role. But why are there higher rates of hypertension, diabetes and obesity in communities of color? The answer does not lie in biology. Structural and environmental factors such as disinvestment, discrimination and misinformation are at the root of a greater burden. of these diseases in communities of color. “

In the resolution, the council called on the city’s health department to work with other agencies to address systemic racism in policies, plans and budgets that affect health, including land use, transport and education. According to Axios, the board of directors also asked the department to seek its own historical prejudices and to “participate as far as possible in a process of truth and reconciliation with the communities harmed by these actions”.

In addition, the New York Department of Health will make recommendations to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Racial Justice Commission and establish an internal Data for Equity task force to apply an “equity lens” to public health data. , reports the Times.

Michelle Morse, director of marketing and deputy commissioner at the Department of Health, said that while the resolution was “a promising step,” it is only one piece of a much larger puzzle, reports The Times.

“One of the ways that racism is expressed at the political level is inaction in the face of need,” Morse said. She said updating the city’s health code and investing in deprived areas were key strategies in the resolution’s plan.

Separately, Kitaw Demissie, dean of the School of Public Health at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, agreed the resolution was a good start. “I like the idea that they are focusing on this problem,” he said. “Now the most important thing is to see its implementation, to see the investment and to see the changes that will come.”

He added: “Covid-19 was like a magnifying glass to allow us to see what has been around for a long time. Racial / ethnic disparities in health have been a pandemic.” (Zraick, New York Times, 10/19; Falconer, Axios, 10/19)

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