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In December, the @American_Heart published a Presidential Advisory statement on working against structural racism and health disparities in response to recent news events and #BLM advocacy. #healthequity #CQOSpotlight
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000936
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000936
The writing committee on behalf of the @American_Heart in the second sentence of the abstract cite COVID-19, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor as recent examples of structural racism, health disparities for disenfranchised groups.
The statement provides a background on why these issues are relevant to cardiovascular health and the importance of eliminating structural racism.
A good primer on structural racism and health disparities for additional reading from Dr. Gee and @DrChandraFord from @UCLAFSPH is here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4306458/
The AHA statement discusses the persistent CVD health disparities, especially for Black Americans.
Direct statements highlight the source of observed inequities from structural racism in relation to health. With a further discussion of social determinants of health.
As a reminder of wealth inequalities in the U.S., this is a plot of median wealth by age stratified by race (white/Black)
The AHA statement provides historical context and also diagrams major historical institutions and policies that disenfranchised Blacks.
AHA has published statements previously attempting to provide a large overview of current challenges and health disparities. This statement references prior statement focused on Black, Hispanic, Native and Asian American CVD health.
Asian Americans https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/CIR.0b013e3181f22af4
Asian Americans https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/CIR.0b013e3181f22af4
Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease in South Asians in the United States: Epidemiology, Risk Factors, and Treatments: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000580
Cardiovascular Health in American Indians and Alaska Natives: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000773
Status of Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke in Hispanics/Latinos in the United States https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/cir.0000000000000071
Cardiovascular Health in African Americans: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000534
3 key AHA points: 1st
2nd
3rd
AHA's organized strategy to address structural racism
While AHA has written reports regarding health disparities with similiar ambitious goals, the tone and directness of the recent statement focuses primarily on structural racism, which is a welcome change, yet, an immense challenge.
For additional historical perspective and the potential remediation of structural racism for Black Americans, I suggest Ta-Nehisi Coates @TheAtlantic piece from 2014 https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/
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