11 May Coalition Letter: 39 Multicultural Advocates and Public Health Organizations Call For More COVID-19 Help For Vulnerable Communities
The Health Equity Collaborative, along with 39 signatories including UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, NAACP, and American Federation of Teachers, released a coalition letter to HHS and the Congressional Tri-Caucus urging HHS to make more funding opportunities available to mitigate the effects of the pandemic.
Recently, The Office of Minority Health issued a funding opportunity announcement to assess COVID-19 impacts to minority communities. While we applaud the Department’s efforts, we are disappointed that it will only award one grant to one entity to establish a national infrastructure for mitigating the impact of COVID-19 within communities of color and rural communities
The letter asserts providing a single award to one entity – even if its funding a network – is insufficient and will not have the desired impact to help those in need of support given the scope of the problem and the diversity of at-risk communities.
See the full letter here or below:
Dear Secretary Azar,
We, the undersigned organizations, are writing to you concerning the recent grant opportunity announced by the United States Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Minority Health (OMH) entitled “National Infrastructure for Mitigating the Impact of COVID-19 within Racial and Ethnic Minority Communities” MP-CPI-20-006.
While we applaud the Department’s efforts, we are disappointed that it will only award one grant to establish a national infrastructure for mitigating the impact of COVID-19 within communities of color and rural communities.
As you are well aware, the novel coronavirus is having a devastating impact on older Americans and racial and ethnic minorities. In fact, data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest that COVID19 is having disproportionate effects on these communities, with African Americans accounting for 34% of confirmed cases with known race/ethnicity compared to 13% of the total population as of April 20, 2020. However, race and ethnicity is missing or unspecified for nearly two-thirds (65%) of the CDC-reported cases, limiting our understanding of the true impacts by race and ethnicity. Further, in states like New York, the novel coronavirus is killing Latinos at twice the rate that it is killing white people. In California, COVID-19 is killing black and Latinos at higher rates than whites in New York City and beyond. The brunt of the disease is still not known among low income, limited-English-speaking populations who may not have access to timely, accurate information. Furthermore, the CDC states that some people with disabilities may have a higher risk of infection or severe illness because of an underlying medical condition.
In order to have the best chance of mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on racial and ethnic minority, rural, disability, and disadvantaged communities hardest hit by the current pandemic, and people with disabilities, we recommend HHS take the following steps:
Expand Funding Opportunities to Address Disparate Impacts of COVID-19 on Vulnerable Communities
- Fund multiple approaches and organizations to address the problem. It is unlikely that a single organization is in a position to develop an effective strategy to mitigate the impact of COVID 19 across multiple subgroups, including tribal and rural communities, as proposed by this grant. Providing a single grant to one entity will not have the impact that we urgently need now to save lives of people of color, those with higher risks due to underlying medical conditions and/or disabilities, and those who live in rural and tribal communities who have been devastated by COVID-19 pandemic.
- Introduce funding opportunities for distinct communities along with guidelines that allow for the study of (and intervention on) direct and indirect health impacts of COVID-19.
- Establish transparent criteria for how applications will be evaluated and scored for any COVID-19 funding opportunities through the Office of Minority Health.
- Clarify areas of priority, whether these are specific populations or mechanisms driving disparities.
Disaggregate and Report COVID-19 Data by Race, Ethnicity, Language, Gender, Disability, and Socioeconomic Status
- We encourage HHS to collect comprehensive, demographic data on race, ethnicity, gender, language, disability, and socioeconomic status of patients being tested for COVID-19, the rate of positive test results, and outcomes for those with COVID-19. This data will be invaluable to ensuring that our nation’s health response to the current crisis is equitable and reaching all communities.
We stand ready to support you and would be happy to serve as a resource should you have any questions or require additional information. Thank you again for your work to address the COVID-19 public health crisis and for your efforts to prioritize equity in the work of HHS.
Sincerely,
Jason Resendez
Chief of Staff UsAgainstAlzheimer’s
Kevin Kimble
Member
Health Equity Collaborative
Brandon Macsata
CEO
ADAP Advocacy Association
Kim Nichols
Co-Executive Director
African Services Committee
Rosa Mendoza
President and CEO
ALLvanza
Earl Hadley
Assistant Director
American Federation of Teachers
Mark Edberg
Center Director
The Avance Center
Michelle A. Albert, MD
President
Association of Black Cardiologists
Tammy Boyd
Chief Policy Officer
Black Women’s Health Imperative
Connie Stewart
Executive Director
California Center for Rural Policy
Earl Fowlkes
President/CEO
Center for Black Equity
Barbara Kornblau
Executive Director
Coalition for Disability Health Equity
Anthony Feliciano
Director
Commission on the Public’s Health System
Bill Arnold
President and CEO
Community Access National Network
Priscilla Mendenhall
Executive Director
Cville Immigrant Freedom Fund
Theanvy Kuoch
Executive Director
Khmer Health Advocates
Diana M V Shaw
Executive Director
Lanai Community Health Network
Amy Hinojosa
President and CEO
MANA, A National Latina
Organization
Hilary Shelton
Washington Bureau Director
NAACP
Ronald Manderscheid
Executive Director
NACBHDD
Cresta Archuletta
Executive Director
National Association of Hispanic Nurses
Ricardo Byrd
Executive Director
National Association of
Neighborhoods
David Johns
Executive Director
National Black Justice Coalition
Brian Hudich
Executive Director
National Coalition for LGBT Health
Kelly Buckland
Executive Director
National Council on Independent Living
Curtis Decker
Executive Director
National Disability Rights Network
Yanira Cruz
President/CEO
National Hispanic Council on Aging
Justin G. Nelson
Co-Founder & President
National LGBT Chamber of Commerce
Justin Vélez-Hagan
Executive Director
National Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce
- Isabelle Chaudry
Senior Policy Manager
National Women’s Health Network
Mark Misrok
Executive Director
National Working Positive Coalition
Lee Page
Senior Associate Advocacy Director
Paralyzed Veterans of America
Brady Buckner
President
Partnership for Innovation
and Empowerment
Sana Chehimi
Director of Policy & Advocacy
Prevention Institute
Yousra Yusuf
President
South Asian Public Health Association
Dr. Charles Steele
President/CEO
Southern Christian
Leadership Conference
Julie Ward
Senior Executive Officer of Public Policy
The Arc of the United States
Robin Tinnon
Executive Director
We All Rise
Candace Waterman
President & CEO
Women Impacting Public
Policy
CC: Congresswoman Judy Chu, Chairwoman, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
Congresswoman Karen Bass, Chairwoman, Congressional Black Caucus
Congressman Joaquin Castro, Chairman, Congressional Hispanic Caucus