‘UNADDRESSED EPIDEMIC’

CDC Director Designates Racism a ‘Serious Public Health Threat’

She’s directed the agency to develop measurable goals for combating racial health disparities and created a site to provide scientific information on the topic.

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement Thursday that she had directed her agency to develop measurable goals for combating racial health disparities and created a specific site to provide scientific information on the topic. Dr. Rochelle Walensky wrote, “The disparities seen over the past year were not a result of COVID-19. Instead, the pandemic illuminated inequities that have existed for generations and revealed for all of America a known, but often unaddressed, epidemic impacting public health: racism. What we know is this: racism is a serious public health threat that directly affects the well-being of millions of Americans.” She promised that the CDC would invest in studying and bettering the health of minority communities.