Health & Wellbeing
Black health matters, and our work on behalf of families has never been more urgent.
The Challenge
Everyone has a right to good health and well-being, but America's promise has fallen short. Individual health does not exist in a vacuum. It is tied to the community conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work, and age. For historically marginalized populations, geography, income, and racism are longstanding predictors of health outcomes. The roots of historic inequity run deep in fragmented public and private health systems and disadvantaged opportunities across the lifespan.
NAACP is committed to ending racial health disparities. Our aim is not simply disease prevention, but to create an inclusive culture of healthy people and communities. Our mandate is to drive equitable health outcomes and transform healthcare systems through a comprehensive socioeconomic approach valuing the whole person. We collaborate with communities through coordinated action to tackle the social determinants of health — racism, poverty, exclusion, inferior schools, unsafe housing, poor nutrition, and toxic environments. We disrupt the status quo by working at the intersection of policy and systems to drive sustainable impact for our future.
Throughout the world, pandemics and disasters have underscored the importance of a healthy nation providing its residents with robust health care options and social environments where people can thrive. In the U.S., our unwillingness to ensure safe, affordable, accessible, high-quality health care for all has cost too many Black lives and unnecessarily compromised our nation's health and economic security. The U.S. is overdue for a health care system that truly bolsters health for all its people rather than fragments it further.
What we're fighting for
Equitable access to quality healthcare and equitable health outcomes
This pillar focuses on ensuring all individuals, particularly Black Americans, have access to affordable, high-quality health care, including primary care and clinical preventive services, mental health care, and chronic disease management.
Equitable food systems
Recognizing that "food is medicine," the NAACP emphasizes the importance of access to nutritious, affordable food through support for programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program and integration of nutrition into disease prevention and health promotion, as well as addressing food deserts in Black communities.
Inclusive healthcare system and infrastructure
This pillar advocates for a healthcare system with a diverse and culturally fluent provider workforce that can respond effectively and appropriately to the holistic needs of different communities, and where the practice of race-based medicine is eliminated.
Healthy people, healthy communities, and health in all policies
Advocating for policies that promote health across all sectors, such as expanding Medicaid, ensuring environmental justice, and utilizing data collection and analysis to inform local and state interventions and expose discriminatory practices, is essential to achieving health equity.
Resources & Support
In today's America, zip code remains a stronger predictor of life expectancy and health outcomes than genetics. It is believed that your zip code can explain up to 60% of your health status. For any additional questions, please contact centerforhealthequity@naacpnet.org.
Events
Monthly Health Leads Forum
Join our Monthly Health Leads Forum where we share power with communities through knowledge, connection, and meaningful resources. Explore our work, join the movement, and be part of the impact.
Better Health, Brotherhood, and Brunch
Join the NAACP Center for Health Equity and the Emerging 100 of Atlanta for a critical and compelling discussion at The Gathering Spot for an exclusive health and wellness brunch designed for men in the Atlanta community and beyond. This isn't just a meal – it's a space for Brothers to have open dialogue about one of the most important issues that can sometimes be overlooked – health.
Building a Healthier Future: Designing AI for Health Equity
The rise of artificial intelligence in healthcare has the potential to transform health outcomes, but who will it leave behind? How do we design AI to advance health equity?
The NAACP Center for Health Equity, in partnership with Sanofi, is launching a new Task Force to ensure that artificial intelligence and machine learning are used in an inclusive way to promote and support health equity, rather than undermine it. We are developing a new framework and policy proposals to address this important issue, and we need your help.
Our Experts
Dr. Chris Pernell
Director, Center for Health Equity
Dr. Tony C. Price Jr.
Senior Fellow, Center for Health Equity
Jasmine Uddin
Program Manager, Center for Health Equity
Take Action
Health & WellBeing Resolutions
The NAACP Calls for the Elimination of Race-Based Clinical Equations in Patient Care
NAACP calls on state legislatures and state attorneys general to prevent racial bias in algorithms through legislation and investigations (such as the actions undertaken by the California AG to request information from hospital CEOs about their use of clinical decision-making algorithms and the District of Columbia Stop Discrimination by Algorithms Act), and on municipal governments to intervene to end the use of racially biased algorithms, using the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's Coalition to End Racism in Clinical Algorithms (CERCA) as a model to convene health systems, academic centers, and clinicians to establish time-bound goals for eliminating race correction in clinical care.
Health and Racial Implications of Hair Straightening Chemicals
NAACP resolution be widely disseminated via outlets, including but not limited to, public forums, health committee meetings of each unit, other community activations and engagements to raise awareness of the intersection between environmental health hazards and racial injustice, and that it serves as a catalyst for meaningful change in cosmetic regulation and cultural representation.
Affirming the Necessity and Importance of Health Education in School and Community Education
NAACP encourages collaboration among educators, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and community organizations to develop and implement effective health education and health literacy programs.
Join the Fight
Join millions of activists working to deliver positive health outcomes for the Black community.
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