What’s needed to vanquish COVID-19 health inequities

Lack of access to structural support, sick leave and technology, and a mistrust of doctors and hospitals are among the social factors that contribute to health inequities among people of color, according to Linda Rae Murray, MD, MPH, a past president of the American Public Health Association and a leader in Chicago’s health community for more than 40 years. And in the COVID-19 pandemic, health inequity can be a killer.

While people of color in the U.S. have long experienced unequal access to health care, “this global pandemic gives us an opportunity to really look carefully at health inequities,” Dr. Murray said during a JAMA Network™ livestreamed video interview.