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CHICAGO – American Medical Association (AMA) CEO James L. Madara, MD, today made the following statement on a recent podcast and tweet published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA):
“WADA’s House of Delegates adopted a policy declaring racism to be structural, systemic, cultural and interpersonal and we are deeply disturbed – and irritated – by a recent JAMA podcast that questioned the existence of structural racism and the Affiliate tweet that promoted the podcast and said “No doctor is racist, so how can there be structural racism in healthcare?” JAMA has editorial independence from WADA, but this tweet and podcast is inconsistent with WADA’s policies and opinions and I am concerned and acknowledge the harm they have caused. Structural racism in health care and in our society exists and it is up to all of us to fix it. “
Background:
In June 2020, WADA’s Board of Directors pledged to take action to combat systemic racism and police brutality.
WADA’s policy also explicitly recognizes the role of racism in perpetuating health inequalities and inciting harm to historically marginalized communities and to society as a whole. Specifically, the policy adopted at the November 2020 Special Meeting of the WADA House of Delegates recognizes racism in its systemic, cultural, interpersonal and other forms as a serious threat to public health, to the advancement of equity in health and as a barrier to ownership medical care. It clearly shows that a proactive approach to preventing, identifying and eliminating racism is crucial – especially given that studies show that historically marginalized populations in the United States have a shorter lifespan, a greater burden. physical and mental illness, earlier onset and aggressive progression of illness, infant mortality, and reduced access to health care.
The policy describes the different forms of racism as follows:
- Systemic racism: structural and legalized system that results in differential access to goods and services, including health care services.
- Cultural racism: negative and damaging racial stereotypes portrayed in culturally shared media and experiences.
- Interpersonal racism: implicit and explicit racial prejudices, including explicitly expressed racist beliefs and racist attitudes and actions implicitly based on or resulting from such prejudices.
In February 2021, WADA CEO James L. Madara, MD released a viewpoint acknowledging that decisions made by WADA leaders in the past have contributed to a health system in the throes of crisis. inequality.
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