Health officials will explore what's behind the inequities that have made African Americans and other people of color disproportionately affected by the novel coronavirus at a webinar hosted by Kentucky Medical Association, the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky and the University of Kentucky College of Public Health.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, covid-19 hospitalization rates among non-Hispanic African-Americans and Hispanic or Latino people are both about 4.7 times the rate of non-Hispanic white people.
Statewide, as of Nov. 6, African Americans accounted for 11% of Kentucky's coronavirus cases and nearly 12% of covid-19 deaths, even though they comprise only 8.5% of the state's population. Hispanics accounted for 9% of cases and 3% of covid-19 deaths, and have nearly 4% of the population.
The webinar, "Shifting the Lens: Covid-19 Policy Lessons for Reducing Kentucky’s Health Inequities" will be held Thursday, Nov. 19 from 1:30-3 p.m. ET.
Presenters will speak to practices and policies that can be put in place, both short- and long-term, to improve health outcomes for persons of color in the commonwealth, says the release.
“We need to fully understand the reasons underlying the more devastating impact that covid has wreaked on our African American community, and implement the policies and practices that will help allow them to reach their best health,” Ben Chandler, president and CEO of the foundation. The program will open with two Black Kentuckians who have had covid-19.
The presentations include: “The Impact of Covid-19 on Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups," presented by Dr. Connie White, deputy commissioner for clinical affairs, state Department for Public Health; “Ensuring that Telemedicine Bridges, Rather than Deepens, the Gulf," by Dr. William C. Thornbury Jr., general family-medicine practitioner from Glasgow; and “Reducing Chronic Disease in African American Communities," by Dr. Karen Krigger, M.D., director of health equity at the University of Louisville School of Medicine.
Dr. Wayne Tuckson, host of "Kentucky Health" on KET, will moderate the program. Click here to register for the free program.
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