COLUMBUS – Columbus Public Health is steering a new initiative to reduce racial health inequities exposed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Underlying health conditions, a lack of access to quality health care and other factors have combined to make African-Americans more vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus. Blacks in Columbus make up 38 percent of hospitalizations even though they make up only 28 percent of the city’s population, according to health commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts.
“Health disparities in the African American community continue to exist and the COVID-19 pandemic is no exception. We are going to strengthen the work we are already doing to address disparities in our community,” she said
The agency has opened a Center for Public Health Innovation to address racism as a public health issue and to increase life expectancy and improve quality of life.
The new center will develop recommendations for Mayor Andrew Ginther to address health disparities in Columbus.
“Racism and the disparities that come with it are a public health crisis, one that has been clearly exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Ginther said.
Public health challenges that existed prior to the coronavirus outbreak include infant mortality, HIV/AIDS, gun violence and chronic diseases, all of which Roberts says have disproportionally impacted the African-American community.