Photo Courtesy of the Daily Montanan
By Anoushka Kuswaha ’24
Science & Environment Editor
“To build a healthier New York City, we must confront racism as a public health crisis.” Dr. Dave A. Chokshi
“The COVID-19 pandemic magnified inequities, leading to suffering disproportionately borne by communities of color in our city and across our nation. But these inequities are not inevitable.” Dr. Dave A. Chokshi
The New York City Board of Health and Mental Hygiene passed a resolution as of Monday last week declaring racism a public health crisis. The step was taken six months after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared racism a serious health threat, a fact which became more apparent over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Smithsonian Magazine. The resolution, passed on Oct. 18, went into effect immediately.
The resolution was designed to direct the Health Department of the city to take more steps to make anti-racist healthcare a reality for people of color in the city. The resolution followed an initial informal statement in June 2020 that declared racism a public health crisis in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the nationwide protests against systemic and structural racism that followed. In the resolution, the board stated that it is aiming to address the “long history of structural racism impacting services and care across all institutions within our society.” One of the resolution’s overarching goals is to make the city’s continued recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic more racially just. The passing of this resolution is part of the series of steps the Board of Health has committed to in order to address systemic racism that impacts the health of people of color in New York City.
In a statement on the meeting and resolution, the commissioner of the board Dr. Dave A. Chokshi said, “To build a healthier New York City, we must confront racism as a public health crisis.” He elaborated, “The COVID-19 pandemic magnified inequities, leading to suffering disproportionately borne by communities of color in our city and across our nation. But these inequities are not inevitable. Today is a historic day for the country’s oldest Board of Health to officially recognize this crisis and demand action."
High profile individuals from the city, New York State and around the country congratulated the board on taking action against this prevalent issue, many expressing the hope that the city’s Health Department will work more equitably for its citizens of color. Many of them work with a variety of organizations and health boards around the country, such as the National Birth Equity Collaborative and the American Public Health Association. Some, including Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr., were encouraged that the board had taken such a definitive step in acknowledging the systemic racism in the city’s institutions. He stated, “We must fight for transformative change to a system that has historically and disproportionately failed communities of color. This resolution by the New York City Board of Health declaring racism a public health crisis is historic and will be a tremendous step forward in our fight for health equity.”
According to a report included in the Oct. 18 resolution from the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, people of color in NYC have historically faced higher rates of HIV, obesity, maternal mortality, mental health issues and physical violence. Their research finds that these disparities have been exacerbated by the pandemic. In their resolution, the board further acknowledged that Black, Indigenous and other New Yorkers of color have suffered a higher rate of COVID-19 infection and death, leading to a disproportionate and sudden drop in the life expectancy of Black and Latine New Yorkers. Black and Latine New Yorkers were also less likely to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The resolution begins with a series of acknowledgements of the current and past circumstances of racial inequity in New York City’s healthcare and environmental factors that impact healthcare, as the board sees them. It further outlines specific actions for the Health Department and other agencies of the city to work with one another to investigate and remove systemic racism within its policies, plans and budgets. The resolution not only addresses health, but also discusses the many different factors that affect health. The resolution also calls on the Health Department to improve upon its data-collection methods, examine New York City’s health codes and evaluate its own history for systemic racial bias. The actions outlined in the resolution were designed to be specific, actionable and measurable to promote a citywide effort toward equity and anti-racism.