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Racial equity panel on public health holds its first meeting

Connecticut prepares for the coronavirus.
Carol Leonetti Dannhauser Photo
Keith J. DuPerry registers for his vaccination on the New Haven Green. The clinic was administered by Griffin Hospital.

In Connecticut, a commission set up to tackle wide racial health disparities exposed during the Coronavirus pandemic has held its first meeting.

The 28-member commission is the direct result of a bill that passed with bipartisan support in the last legislative session. It declared racism a public health crisis in Connecticut.

The average life expectancy of African Americans is four years lower than the rest of the U.S. population, said Melissa MCCaw, commissioner of the Office of Policy and Management.

McCaw is the co-chair of the panel. She said the focus will be on enabling the state’s Department of Public Health to be more responsive to people of color.

“DPH will be required to report on recruitment and retention programs for healthcare workers of color," McCaw said. "In addition there will be a report from DPH on the state’s COVID response which will be due to the Legislature by February 2022.”

State Representative Hilda Santiago of Meriden, another member of the commission, wants to make sure cultural differences are also considered.

“A lot of people don’t realize that South Americans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Central Americans, Caribbeans are all Hispanic or Latino but the cultures are totally different,” Santiago said.

The commission’s first task is to recruit an executive director and set up a schedule for public participation in its deliberations. It’s first report is due in January.

Copyright 2021 WSHU. To see more, visit WSHU.

As WSHU Public Radio’s award-winning senior political reporter, Ebong Udoma draws on his extensive tenure to delve deep into state politics during a major election year. In addition to providing long-form reports and features for WSHU, he regularly contributes spot news to NPR, and has worked at the NPR National News Desk as part of NPR’s diversity initiative.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

Connecticut Public’s journalism is made possible, in part by funding from Jeffrey Hoffman and Robert Jaeger.