Illinois Health Officials Say Racism is a Public Health Crisis Creati…

A recent state of Illinois report says racism is a public health crisis and many health issues are exacerbated by a lack of access to needed care.

The State Health Improvement Plan is part of a larger five-year plan that Illinois officials will use to outline and address the major public health issues facing the state.  

That larger plan, Healthy Illinois 2028, lays out five primary public health issues:

• Racism as a public health crisis.
• Maternal and infant health.
• Mental health and substance use disorders.
• Chronic disease.
• COVID-19 and emerging diseases.

Dr. Sameer Vohra, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, said that the COVID-19 pandemic revealed there were significant health disparities beyond just those that were based on the biology of this virus. 

“What we also know is that there are substantial health disparities around different groups especially Black, African-Americans, Hispanics when you think about issues such as heart disease, cancer,…