THANK YOU TO OUR
NYC WOMAN OF IMPACT
CLASS OF 2022
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, F 48 FEBRUARY 18-24, 2022 BTR
Structural racism is a driver
of health disparities
Photo of a female doctor with a protective face mask checking her patient’s blood pressure
BY THE AMERICAN
HEART ASSOCIATION
This February, during Black History
Month, the American Heart Association
is encouraging Black women to
Reclaim Your Rhythm and take control
of their mental and physical well-being.
For years we’ve been striving to ensure
everyone has an optimal, just opportunity
to be healthy. But this is not
the reality for many people of color and
others whose health suffers because of
social factors beyond their control.
In fact, in New York City, people in
some under-resourced ZIP codes have
shorter life expectancies than their
neighbors just a few miles away. And
around the country, people in oftenremote
rural areas face signifi cantly
higher death rates from heart disease
and stroke.
COVID-19 has illuminated these unacceptable
health disparities and worsened
the problems. The pandemic and
economic hardships have disproportionately
harmed the health of Black,
Latino and Native American people.
Structural racism is a driver of
health disparities, report declares
The nation’s history of structural
racism must be acknowledged as a
driver of health problems and shortened
lives for Black people and other racial
and ethnic groups, says an American
Heart Association report that
seeks to spark action to fi x the problem.
The idea that racism adversely affects
an individual’s health is not new,
said Dr. Keith Churchwell, president of
Yale New Haven Hospital, who led the
writing group for the advisory. For example,
racism has been shown to lead
to stress, depression and long-lasting,
cumulative damage to the body and
brain.
“Structural racism has been and
remains a fundamental cause of persistent
health disparities in the United
States,” declares the presidential advisory.
It offers a summary of the historical
context of structural discrimination,
connects it to current health
disparities and looks for ways to dismantle
Photo courtesy Getty Images
or mitigate its continuing effects.
Structural racism refers to “the
ways in which society is set up in such a
way that advantages and opportunities
are preferentially given to those of one
race rather than to another,” said coauthor
Dr. Mitchell Elkind, immediate
past president of the American Heart
Association for 2021-22, a neurologist at
New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University
Irving Medical Center in New
York City. “We have to change the underlying
structure that allows that to
happen.”
We know things like high blood
pressure, diabetes and smoking lead
to cardiovascular disease, Elkind said.
And higher rates of those problems in
some groups lead to health disparities.
For example, Black people in the United
States are much more likely to die from
heart disease or stroke than their white
counterparts.
Structural racism is “an important,
fundamental driver” of such differences,
he said. Which means doctors,
scientists, policymakers and others
have a role in addressing it.
“The consequences of racism in
the past persist in such a way that certain
racial and ethnic groups still live
in poor neighborhoods that have less
green space, that have poor air quality,
have a more dangerous environment
that may preclude exercise and healthy
behaviors, may have less nutritious
food options, and certainly suboptimal
educational experiences,” Elkind said.
“These things have not gone away.”
The American Heart Association is
committed to advancing health equity
– which can exist only when all people
can have the opportunity to enjoy
healthier lives. We’re removing barriers
to health through work in communities,
scientifi c research, advocating
for healthy policies and more. Please
join us on this critical journey.
For information about the American
Heart Association’s commitment to
health equity please visit heart.org/healthequity
black history month
The American Heart Association’s Woman of
Impact campaign brings together passionate
groups of women across the nation, dedicated to
improving the state of women’s health by raising
awareness and funds for Go Red for Women®.
Kimberly Lovejoy
Associate, Private
Wealth Solutions
Blackstone
Keeana Ross, PharmD,MBA
Medical Affairs
Postdoctoral Fellow,
Rare Disease
Pfizer
Aghavny Andrea Jeknavorian,
PharmD, RPh
Field Medical Director,
Rare Disease Endocrine
Pfizer
Sophia Wagner
Senior Manager,
Strategy and Transactions
EY
Vivian Armstrong
Vice President,
Head of Corporate Technology
New York Life
Kangela Moore
Business Agent
Teamsters Local 237,
New York