Monday August 6, 3:09 pm ET
"Now, more than at any time in recent memory, universal access to quality health care is gaining traction among candidates for national offices," said Clayola Brown, President of the A. Philip Randolph Institute. "While access is important to improving care it won't solve the problems confronting black people when they finally see a doctor. It's time to expand the national conversation to include eliminating health disparities so blacks can live as long and as rich a life as whites."
Racial disparities in health constitute a national crisis:
APRI will mobilize its own chapters as well as leaders from the health, business, labor and political worlds to expand the current debate around reform.
APRI has pledged to recruit partners from the faith community and grassroots organizations, seek support from lawmakers, and launch innovative public education campaigns with black celebrities to become the catalyst for changing the health and health care dynamics in America.
A new health care system must refuse to accept different outcomes for blacks as compared to whites.
The A. Philip Randolph Institute is the oldest AFL-CIO Constituency Group. It has 141 chapters in 32 States. August 1-5 in Oakland California, APRI held an educational conference focusing on health and health disparities. It attracted more than 800 participants, mostly black workers and union members.
-- Alice Furumoto-Dawson, Ph.D. Sr. Research Associate Center for Interdisciplinary Health Disparities Research Institute for Mind & Biology University of Chicago Chicago, IL - USA Email: [log in to unmask] http://cihdr.uchicago.edu/