April 5th is the anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As we honor Dr. King’s astonishing legacy and celebrate the civil rights gains that he inspired, the NEA Health Information Network also recognizes that we as a nation have not done enough to ensure that all minority communities have quality access to health and healthcare.
This disparity has received federal attention. In 2001, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) established April as National Minority Health Month to recognize the disproportionate rates of access and achieve health equity.
This year, the theme of National Minority Health Month is, Advance Health Equity Now: Uniting Our Communities to Bring Health Care Coverage to All.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has outlined a clear action plan to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities:
- Transform health care;
- Strengthen the nation’s health and human services infrastructure and workforce;
- Advance health, safety and well-being of the American People;
- Advance scientific knowledge and innovation; and
- Increase efficiency, transparency and accountability of HHS programs
Many federal agencies partner in this effort: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA); and The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSA), to name a few.
In support of such work, NEA HIN implements a number of programs that focus on the health issues that disproportionately affect minority populations. In the area of nutrition, NEA HIN recognizes that the prevalence of obesity disproportionately affects African-American, Hispanic, and Native American children. That’s one reason why NEA HIN has launched the Bag the Junk initiative, to ensure all children have access to healthier food and beverage choices in schools.
NEA HIN also knows that Black and Hispanic households with higher rates of food insecurity, over 25 percent. That’s one reason why NEA HIN launched a Breakfast in the Classroom initiative to increase breakfast consumption among schoolchildren and spark the academic and nutritional gains associated with the morning meal. Since 2010, NEA HIN has worked in 13 high-need school districts to help bring breakfast into the classroom to all children.
Approximately 7 million children (ages 0 to 17) in the U.S. have asthma, with poor and minority children suffering a greater burden of the disease. 16 percent of non-Hispanic black children suffer from asthma in the U.S. compared to 8.2 percent among non-Hispanic white and 7.9 percent among Hispanic children. NEA HIN’s environmental health programs aim to educate NEA members on asthma and help reduce exposure to common asthma triggers in schools. Learn more about asthma and asthma triggers by taking NEA HIN’s online course Managing Asthma in the School Environment: What NEA Members Need to Know. To access the course, go to www.neaacademy.org/leader-to-leader/managing-asthma-in-the-school-environment-what-nea-members-need-to-know.html.
During National Minority Health Month, you can visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website to get more information about health care initiatives, statistics, publications and workshops on minority health. You might be inspired by a way you can take an action to help improve the health of our communities and increase access to quality, affordable health care for everyone.
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