Published: January 2021

Prioritizing health equity to overcome the coronavirus pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed stunning gaps in the U.S. public health and health care systems and highlighted the negative effects of hundreds of years of structural inequities and systemic racism on our communities. The U.S. COVID-19 response has been marked by politicization of public health, skepticism of science, and a lack of a national plan. For people with disabilities, low-income families, communities of color, and those living in congregate settings, COVID-19 has exacerbated inequities with fatal consequences. Advocates joined together in making recommendations to the Biden administration: from community mitigation to testing and tracing to safe quarantine, working and sharing lessons with nations around the world. An equitable and fair COVID-19 response ensures the safety and healthcare needs of our most vulnerable communities.

The United States has now entered a dramatic third wave of COVID-19, with more cases per day and hospital admission rates higher than ever before, leaving the new administration with a daunting task to right the course of this pandemic. As the Biden-Harris health care team assembles to chart the COVID-19 response in 2021 and beyond, to overcome COVID-19, save lives, reopen schools and businesses, we must ensure an equity-centered response.

 

Lead Organization

Partners in Health

Other Organizations

American Medical Student Association (AMSA) | American Muslim Health Professionals | Center for Popular Democracy | Children’s Defense Fund - California | Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) | Consumer Action | Doctors For America | El Sol Neighborhood Educational Center | GLMA: Health Professionals | Advancing LGBTQ Equality | Health Care For All Massachusetts | HIV Medicine Association | Infectious Disease Society of America | Institute for Health Improvement | Justice for Migrant Women | Muslim Public Affairs Council | NASTAD | National Association of Community Health Workers | National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners | National Coalition for the Homeless | National Council of Jewish Women | National Employment Law Project | NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice | Partners In Health | Public Advocacy for Kids (PAK) | Right to Health Action | StriveTogether | Texas Progressive action Network | The AIDS Institute | The Community Health Acceleration Partnership | The Episcopal Church | Treatment Action Group | Union for Reform Judaism | Universal Health Care Action Network

More Information

For more information, please visit Partners In Health.

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Prioritizing health equity to overcome the coronavirus pandemic   (TransitionMemo_Signatories.pdf)