AKF president and CEO LaVarne Burton speaks on racism and health disparities

The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation hosted a webinar that tackled questions on systemic racism and health disparities, and how the COVID-19 pandemic has brought these issues into sharp focus. AKF president and CEO, LaVarne Burton, was a panelist on the webinar, along with U.S. Representative Robin Kelly from Illinois, family physician and epidemiologist Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones, Dr. Oscar Alleyne from the National Association of County and City Health Officials, and Michael Sneed from Johnson & Johnson.

More information on the webinar and insights from LaVarne on racial health disparities, COVID-19 and AKF's efforts to address them can be found in her recent blog post.

Social determinants of health

AKF's blog post, "Social determinants of health, kidney disease and COVID-19," explains how non-medical conditions such as poverty, food and housing insecurity, lack of access to quality education, and environmental safety contribute to decreased health outcomes and greatly influence a persons overall well-being. These social determinants of health (SDOH) correlate with higher rates of chronic conditions like kidney disease and they have a disproportionate impact on communities of color.

H.R. 6561, the Improving Social Determinants of Health Act of 2020, would require the CDC to address SDOH and work to improve health outcomes for communities that have been impacted. The bill would establish the first federal program to provide money to states, municipalities and cities specifically to address the SDOH faced by low-income Americans by ensuring access to nutrition, housing, transportation, education and employment. AKF was one of the original endorsing organizations to support the bill.

We encourage AKF Ambassadors to take just two minutes to contact their representative through our website and ask them to cosponsor this important piece of legislation.

AKF submits comments to Key House Committees

The House Ways and Means Committee and the Energy and Commerce Committee have held hearings in the past few weeks to examine the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color and the health disparities that have led to such devastating outcomes. AKF submitted written comments for the record for both hearings.

We emphasized to legislators the fact that people with kidney disease, many of whom also have multiple chronic conditions, are at high risk for contracting and severely suffering from COVID-19. Minority populations that are disproportionately affected by kidney disease have also been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. The pandemic has further illustrated how longstanding health and socioeconomic disparities result in negative health outcomes for racial and ethnic minority populations. We believe it is important for data on confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths by race/ethnicity to be consistently and adequately reported at the state and national level. Accurate and comprehensive data by race and ethnicity is critical in developing effective public health strategies that can address the needs of minority populations during this pandemic.