New York City Health Board Declares Racism A Public Health Crisis

NYC Department Of Health Resolution Declares Racism As A Public Health Crisis

This week, New York City’s Health Department officially declared racism a public health crisis, according to Fox5NY.

After the resolution passed Monday, New York City Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi said that the COVID-19 pandemic had “magnified inequities, leading to suffering disproportionately borne by communities of color in our City and across our nation,” but such inequities aren’t inevitable.

In a post on Twitter, Chokshi said: “Racism exacts a health and economic cost on all of society. We are at a pivotal moment in taking on racism as a public health crisis — and the COVID-19 pandemic must render unacceptable that which has been condoned for generations.”

The resolution now calls on health officials to help address racism in their own policies, including implementing policies for “a racially just recovery from COVID-19, as well as other actions to address this public health crisis in the short and long term.”

“Structural and environmental factors such as disinvestment, discrimination, and disinformation underlie a greater burden of these diseases in communities of color,” Chokshi wrote. “These inequities are disparities that are avoidable, unjust, and unfair.”

Choski said that people of color are twice as likely to die from the coronavirus than white people.

Other cities have also declared racism a public health crisis in recent months. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot declared racism a public health emergency in June.