“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhuman.” — Martin Luther King Jr.

Three African American health leaders — advocates for expanded health care who are on the frontlines of the battle against COVID-19 raging across California — took a moment to reflect on the state of health care as the holiday honoring civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. approaches on Jan. 18.

Doctors David Carlisle, Elaine Batchlor and Adrian James are admirers of King and find his words of injustice in health care even more profound as hospitals and clinics are overflowing with COVID-19 patients — many of them African Americans and other people of color.

A million words will be written and spoken  

“On the day that we celebrate the great civil rights icon’s birthday, Dr. King’s sentiment has never been more relevant than today, as the pandemic has laid bare the great health inequities that remain in this country,” said Dr. Carlisle, president and CEO of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles. “COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on communities of color makes it more important than ever that African Americans, Latinos and other people of color seek out affordable health care coverage, such as through Covered California, and also get the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available.”

Carlisle, Batchlor and James recently teamed up with Covered California to address vaccine confidence and encourage Black Californians to get the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available and to sign up for quality health insurance coverage through Covered California or Medi-Cal.

Source: In Dr. King’s Honor, California Black Doctors Call for Urgent Action During COVID-19 Crisis