199: Juneteenth Webinar Examines Racism, Health Equity Link

ROBERT JOHNSON:

This is Public Health Review Morning Edition for Tuesday, June 14th, 2022. I'm Robert Johnson.

Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

The Juneteenth holiday coming up this weekend is an opportunity to check in on the status of health equity efforts in the country. ASTHO plans a webinar about the link between racism and health equity on Thursday afternoon.

ASTHO's senior vice president of health equity and diversity initiatives, Dr. Kimberlee Wyche-Etheridge, will host a discussion featuring comments from Ms. Opal Lee, known as the grandmother of the holiday. Dr. Wyche-Etheridge digs into the details in today's morning conversation.

ASTHO has an exciting conversation planned for this Thursday in recognition of Juneteenth, which is coming up over the weekend. Why are you looking forward to this discussion?

KIMBERLEE WYCHE-ETHERIDGE:

Oh, this is going to be such an amazing opportunity for all of us to hear from two absolutely spectacular speakers.

We have Arthur James—Dr. Arthur James—who is a retired physician, historian, health equity champ, who is going to give us just a lesson just around health, health equity, and some of the history that has brought us to where we are. And then, at the apex of the conversation, we'll get to hear the words of Ms. Opal Lee, who was considered to be the grandmother of the Juneteenth movement.

So together, what a powerhouse duo to speak to us.

JOHNSON:

What do you hope the attendees who sign in for this event will take away from it?

WYCHE-ETHERIDGE:

Well, first I hope that they'll take away a better understanding of history. Truth and history has been under attack. So, just being able to hear some real history and how it leads into some of the health inequalities that we're dealing with now.

But also, the call to action that comes with Juneteenth. Juneteenth is about action. It's about promoting community engagement. It's about increasing your own knowledge and implementing a health equity focus on everything you do from policies to work to just your everyday life.

And if we're able to leave the conversation believing that we can make a difference and committing to changing or doing one thing differently—even if that means making sure that our neighbor is registered to vote—then we would have been successful.

JOHNSON:

Everywhere I look these days, you are leading a conversation with some group on health equity—that's what you're doing at ASTHO. What have you heard from people as you have made the rounds and how is that going?

WYCHE-ETHERIDGE:

It's going great.

What have I heard? I've heard the work is hard, but we already know that because it's a changing of the mindset.

There is excitement. There is just the knowledge, or actually being able to put words together with what people have been doing and give name to it and give credence to it has been wonderful.

There are also the challenges, the challenges that come with the world that we live in today. And with that, how we can not take our finger off of the pulse of health equity. We have to keep fighting. We have to keep moving it forward. We have to keep it on the front burner.

JOHNSON:

The free event on Thursday, June 16th starts at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time. You can hold your seat using the link in the show notes.

Reports that some strawberries are contaminated with hepatitis has consumers looking more carefully at their produce.

According to Minnesota health department epidemiologist Genny Grilli, food-related hepatitis outbreaks aren't that common. But she says when they do occur, public health teams have a playbook that extends beyond product recalls.

GENNY GRILLI:

So, it's really vital for jurisdictions to be able to link their case or cases to other jurisdictions and respond in a quick and coordinated manner.

So, to do that, we need to have well-established partnerships with our state and federal partners—and, in some cases, international partners. Like with this one, you know, we were working closely with Canada as well.

And this outbreak really showed how vital those connections are in being able to do that type of work and involve the right partners right from the start.

JOHNSON:

Finally today, ASTHO examines legislative and legal actions focused on religious exemptions to vaccination laws and congressional efforts to address the disturbing rise in child suicide cases in a pair of new blog articles now online. You can read both reports using the links in the show notes.

That'll do it for today's newscast. We're back tomorrow morning with more ASTHO news and information.

I'm Robert Johnson. You're listening to Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great day.