Rashid Njai

Transforming Public Health at the Intersection of Equity and Institutional Change

As the nation's leading public health agency, CDC is committed to health equity – to ensuring every person has access to health care and the opportunity to be as healthy as possible. Social and economic obstacles driven by racism, discrimination, and longstanding disenfranchisement, undermine achieving health equity in communities that have been historically marginalized and medically underserved. The impact of these inequities on our communities is severe and far reaching and is creating life-long negative effects on the mental and physical health of our nation. In April 2021, CDC declared racism a serious public health threat. To effectively address the population impact of health inequities, we had to begin a process of transforming our own institutional culture and reimagine a more equitable system of public health research and practice. In July 2021, CDC launched its first health equity science and intervention strategy known as CORE. CORE is an acronym for Cultivate comprehensive health equity science, Optimize Interventions, Reinforce robust partnerships, and Enhance workforce engagement. In this session, we will focus on the “E” in CORE and describe some of the innovative strategies in play that are systematically changing CDC policies, practices, and organizational culture toward equity. We will also highlight how CDC is building an anti-racist approach to public health science and practice.

Speakers: Leandris C. Liburd, Jeffrey E. Hall, Rashid Njai