On Monday, April 7, Drew’s Pre-Health Society partnered with the campus Feminist Intersection club to hold a Minority Health Awareness event in the Ehinger Center from 6 to 7 p.m. The event was held in EC109, the conference room next to the Commuter Lounge.
The event kicked off around 6:10 p.m., with Breena Stephen (‘27) giving a presentation at the front of the room on minority health awareness, as well as on how the world can advance its commitments to eliminate the many global health disparities that remain ever-present within many communities—especially those of color or who may be under-resourced or underrepresented.
Especially highlighted in Stephen’s presentation were the disproportionate effects of the recent COVID-19 pandemic on those minority communities. Defining healthcare disparities as “differences in health and healthcare between groups that stem from broader social and economic inequities,” Stephen pointed out that many minority communities continue to feel the impacts of the COVID pandemic today, nearly two full years after much of the world returned to a quasi-normal state of affairs—especially members of the Hispanic, Asian and Black communities in the U.S.
Stephen’s presentation also included a number of data points and statistics on how the Hispanic community, Asian community and other communities of color are vastly and disproportionately likely to be unable to afford health insurance and have “low or no access” to proper healthcare as a consequence. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, an independent health policy research organization, approximately 18.7% of Indigenous Americans and 17.9% of the U.S. Hispanic community lack healthcare insurance as of 2023. Those with Hawaiian and Pacific Islander ancestry closely follow at 12.8%, and 9.7% of the Black community is also currently unable to access insurance. Stephen highlighted the difference in who is affected by healthcare crises, and referred to a number of initiatives that could possibly help alleviate some of the disparities in her presentation.
After Stephen’s presentation, those in attendance participated in a game of Kahoot with questions about the statistics and issues that she had mentioned, and the two organizations distributed food from Chipotle to participants. The event ended around 7:15 p.m.
Sabr Keres-Siddiqui is a sophomore majoring in Sociology and minoring in Journalism.