The AAMC Oct. 16 joined 203 organizations representing health professions, schools, communities, and grantees in a letter urging House and Senate Appropriators to restore funding to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program.
Both the House and Senate Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations bills (H.R. 3358, S. 1771) completely eliminated funding for the CDC REACH program for fiscal year (FY) 2018, a $50.95 million cut from its fiscal year (FY) 2017 enacted level.
The letter explains, “The REACH program is advancing community-level strategies that work to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities in chronic disease and related risk factors. Investing directly in community coalitions with multiple years of awards allows the time and resources necessary to address the many root causes of racial and ethnic disparities and reverse the updated trend of chronic disease…We urge you to maintain the same level of investment for these REACH communities to improve outcomes and address disparities as was provided in FY 2017.”