Past as Prologue: COVID-19, HIV and Other Infectious Disease Inequities by Race/Ethnicity

Past as Prologue: COVID-19, HIV and other infectious disease inequities by race/ethnicity

This event qualifies for one hour of credit toward the Gillings School’s annual inclusive excellence training requirement for faculty and staff.

Dean’s Inclusive Excellence Lecture Series presents:

Past as Prologue: COVID-19, HIV and Other Infectious Disease Inequities by Race/Ethnicity

Speaker: Gregorio Millett, MPH, vice president and director of public policy at amfAR

Monday, April 4, 1-2 p.m.

Registration required.

Examining and addressing inequities by geography, income, race/ethnicity, sex or other characteristics is a cornerstone of public health science and practice.  The most recent and salient example of health inequities is the COVID-19 pandemic. As with HIV, H1N1 and other preceding pandemics, COVID-19 followed a predictable (though accelerated) path in the United States: Black, Latinx and Native populations were overly represented in U.S. cases, hospitalizations and deaths within months of the first confirmed case of SARS-CoV-2.

Using data from published studies in the scientific literature, this talk will explore similarities between the HIV and COVID-19 pandemics with respect to inequities by race and ethnicity. Specifically, Millett will discuss lessons that were ignored from the HIV pandemic, such as the degree to which social determinants impact health; the role of multiple overlapping epidemics in amplifying inequities; stigmatization of at-risk communities and victim-blaming that run counter to the prevailing science; and possible solutions to prevent the next pandemic from disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations.