WHYY
By
West Philadelphia Skills Initiative aids in COVID testing and processing efforts on Feb. 10 2021. (West Philadelphia Skills Initiative)
The goal, they say, is to find solutions to disparities and increase access to quality health care.
“We’ve also seen that the COVID-19 pandemic has fallen on the same pre-existing disparities that predated the pandemic. Communities of color have higher rates of COVID-19 illness and death. But even before this, their inequities in the rates of chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension,” said Department of Human Services Secretary Teresa Miller.
“The pandemic has lowered the life expectancy of Black Americans by three years, compared to a one-year decrease in life expectancy in the general public.”