• U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla (D-California), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) reintroduced a Senate resolution to declare racism a public health crisis, according to a Dec. 21 statement from Padilla’s office. The senators previously introduced the resolution in April 2021. Their resolution acknowledges the history of racism and discrimination within health care and the systemic barriers that people of color continue to face when seeking care. The resolution also highlights the effects of systemic racism on the health and wellness of communities of color, resulting in shorter life expectancy, worsened health outcomes, and enhanced exposure to harmful or dangerous environments. The resolution encourages concrete action to address health disparities and inequity across all sectors in society. “Over generations, racism and its compounding impacts have harmed the health and well-being in communities of color across America,” Padilla said in the statement. “Our resolution declaring that racism is a public health crisis is a first step toward bringing more attention to these deep-rooted inequities. And it must also serve as a catalyst in the urgent work to address these health disparities and deliver justice for millions of Americans.”
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal joined Central Coast health officials to announce four new federal grants, totaling more than $1.6 million, aimed at raising the number of Central Coast residents who have received the new bivalent COVID-19 booster, which is designed to combat more recent variants of COVID-19, according to a Dec. 20 statement from the congressman’s office. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services allocated $1.04 million for Community Health Centers of the Central Coast, $265,765 for Santa Barbara County, $214,258 for Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics, and $112,702 for American Indian Health and Services. “While we have made great strides at reducing COVID-19’s control over our lives on the Central Coast, the constantly improving tools that we have to keep this virus at bay won’t help anyone if people fail to take the time to use them,” Carbajal said in the statement. “In order to keep our communities and front-line workers protected from newer strains of COVID-19 and keep our hospitals from being overrun in this perfect storm of multiple infectious illnesses this winter, we need more people to get these boosters. I’m proud that the federal funding that I’ve supported for our federal health departments are coming back to help our local health officials get these shots in arms as quickly as possible.”
• Gov. Gavin Newsom, joined by state leaders, issued a statement on Proposition 1—overwhelmingly approved by voters in November—as it took effect on Dec. 21. Introduced as SCA 10, Proposition 1 amends the state constitution to enshrine protection for reproductive freedom, including abortion care and contraception. “Californians stood up to the rollback of fundamental rights this year, ensuring women have a right to abortions and reproductive freedoms,” Newsom said in the statement. “No other state responded as comprehensively as California in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade nearly six months ago. These fundamental rights are now protected in our state for generations to come.” California’s constitutional amendment comes as politicians in other states continue their efforts to limit or ban access to abortion and other sexual and reproductive health care.
This article appears in Dec 29, 2022 – Jan 5, 2023.
