Is Racism a Fundamental Cause of Inequalities in Health?

Is Racism a Fundamental Cause

of Inequalities in Health?

Jo C. Phelan1 and Bruce G. Link2,3

1Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University, 2Department of Epidemiology,

Columbia University, and 3New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York 10032;

email: jcp13@columbia.edu, bgl1@columbia.edu

Annu. Rev.

Each question one page discussion from the paper attached ( add 10)

Here are a few questions to jump start the conversation.

(1) Did you learn anything new or interesting?

(2) What institutions and policies in the US have contributed to inequality and how?

Response one (add 5)

I chose Public Health as my concentration, simply because I want to be able to better assist the families I come in contact with, by knowing the risk environments may have, and to know what resources to refer them to if health issues occur from an environmental issue. Although, I don’t have many years in my field, I wish to learn more to become a better advocate for the families and children I encounter. I do believe that public health efforts completed by the government is an overall positive. Since 2002, the national Environmental Health Tracking Program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has provided vital support to state environmental public health efforts while simultaneously building a nationwide network of state, local, and academic partners to improve our nation’s capacity to understand and respond to environmental threats to public health. As part of program review and strategic planning, national thought leaders in environmental public health were convened to assess progress, identify gaps and challenges, and provide recommendations for enhancing the utility and impact of the Tracking Program(Fox, M. A., Baksh, S., Lam, J., & Resnick, B. 2017).

Fox, M. A., Baksh, S., Lam, J., & Resnick, B. (2017). Building the Future of Environmental Public Health Tracking: Proceedings and Recommendations of an Expert Panel Workshop. Journal Of Environmental Health, 79(10), 14-19.