In a 1955 speech, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously declared that of all forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most “shocking and inhumane.” Yet racial and ethnic health inequities remain pervasive across all state health systems* (PDF | 3.5 MB). Fortunately, with hard work and the passage of time, health equity progress does take root and grow. Indeed, there are significant advances to achieving health equity for African Americans and other marginalized populations.
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