AMA Declares Racism a Public Health Threat, Adopts Policy to Address It

By Cara Adler

Edited by David G. Fairchild, MD, MPH, and Lorenzo Di Francesco, MD, FACP, FHM

The American Medical Association has adopted a new policy aimed at preventing and combating racism in health care practices and policies. Proclaiming racism an "urgent threat to public health," the group announced the new policy on Monday.

The policy "explicitly acknowledges racism's role in perpetuating health inequities and inciting harm against historically marginalized communities and society as a whole," according to a press release.

Among the steps the policy calls on the AMA to take:

• Acknowledge the existence of unconscious bias in health care and the harm it causes

• Identify methods for tackling racism and alleviating its health effects

• Incorporate discussion of racism into all levels of medical education

• Encourage funding agencies to support research on the health effects of racism

"Without systemic and structural-level change, health inequities will continue to exist, and the overall health of the nation will suffer," said AMA Board of Trustees member Willarda V. Edwards, MD, MBA.