Of all forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane. 

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

As individuals, as communities, and as a nation, we face monumental health and health care challenges. For example, Washington, DC spends more per capita for most health care services than some entire states*, but continues to have some of worst health outcomes in the nation, particularly among its communities of color.

We know that a population’s health status is determined by several inter-related, intergenerational, cumulative, and most importantly, preventable factors. Quality of life issues such as racism, income and wealth inequality, sex discrimination, poverty, and low socioeconomic status are major risk factors for illness. Socioeconomic conditions such as inadequate housing, environmental pollution, lack of transportation, poor educational and employment opportunities, and unsafe working conditions also contribute to health inequities and increased rates of death and disease among people of color.

Indicative of this racial inequality is the fact that African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, American Indians, and Alaska Natives do not receive health care services equal to whites, regardless of their income or health insurance status. Inequities in accessing health care also exist due to language and cultural barriers, lack of accessible primary health care and continuity of care, and lack of health insurance. Such impediments result in certain communities not receiving routine preventive health care, delaying treatment for chronic conditions until the point of crisis, and suffering the physical and psychosocial effects associated with overall poor health.

The Consumer Health Foundation supports local grassroots and community-based organizations in the metropolitan Washington DC area that work to improve these communities’ health status and access to equitable, quality health care. We are also committed to the larger work around those social justice, economic, and policy issues that impact health.

*Health, United States, 2004, Table 143.  www.cdc.gov/nchs/hus.htm

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