We need to end racial inequities in healthcare.

A thread

Fast facts:
Life expectancy in Brownsville is 10 years less than in Greenwich Village.
Black and Latino New Yorkers are 2x more likely to die from COVID than white New Yorkers.
NYC communities of color, like East Flatbush, have among the highest infant mortality rates. 2/

What it means:
NYC’s communities of color disproportionately face health challenges, complications, and lack of representation in the public health workforce.

While this pandemic is new, these disparities are systemic and deep rooted. This inequity must end. 3/

Problem 1: NYC’s public health workforce lacks representation.

Fact: Multiple studies have shown that health outcomes are better for communities of color when they can identify with their health care providers providers. 4/

Solution 1: Create a pipeline program for NYC high schoolers who want to serve their communities.

With CUNY and Health and Hospitals (H+H), we will create fast-track pipelines into healthcare careers for NYC high school graduates, especially students of color. 5/

Problem 2: NYC’s Black maternal mortality is worse than the US national average.

Fact: Black women in NYC die from childbirth at eight times (8x) the rate of white women. 6/

Solution 2: Empower people of color to become birth workers and make care financially accessible.

We will offer grants to families for doula care so every mother can have an advocate, and also create a pipeline program for more people of color to become birth workers. 7/

Problem 3: Gun violence is getting worse.

Fact: Gun violence went up 95% in 2020, and communities of color are hurting the most. 8/

Solution 3: Address gun violence as the public health crisis it is.

We will invest in community-based programs to interrupt violence and support communities through the trauma of gun violence. 9/

Summary:
COVID-19 has only worsened the pre-existing race-based disparities in healthcare, and amplified the need to put an end to this systemic racial inequity affecting NYC’s communities of color. The data highlighting this is inexcusable and we must take action. 10/

To learn more about our plan to end racial inequities in healthcare, check out our website linked below. https://www.yangforny.com/policies/racial-equity-in-healthcare-delivery