The AAMC submitted a statement for the record (statement) to the House Ways and Means Committee in response to their May 27 hearing, “The Disproportionate Impact of COVID-19 on Communities of Color” [see Washington Highlights, May 29].
The statement highlights how medical schools and teaching hospitals are working with their communities to mitigate health disparities seen in COVID-19, as well as federal policy recommendations for t, contact tracing efforts telehealth services, diversity recruitment programs, and addressing social determinants of health [see Washington Highlights, March 13].
"Health and health care inequities are deeply rooted in the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age. Medical schools and teaching hospitals are committed to ensuring all people have the same opportunity to reach their full health potential—a state of health equity,” notes the statement.
To better quantify and analyze factors related to underrepresented minorities and the coronavirus pandemic, the AAMC on April 10 called for “the development of a national, standardized data collection system that accurately captures race and ethnicity data, as well as information on the social and environmental conditions in which people live, work, and play (e.g., crowding, access to food, housing security, etc.) that impact how illness can spread.”