The South Carolina Institute of Medicine and Public Health (IMPH) works every day to improve the health of the people of South Carolina. The ongoing brutality against black and minority communities reflects the systemic racism in American culture, society and institutions. We share the concerns of the nation and believe it is time to face racism as a public health crisis. For too long, inequities in health and wellness have been accepted as the status quo.

The cries for justice have gone unheard long enough. IMPH believes that now is the time to reinforce our commitment to equity and support for evidence-based policies and practices that ensure the conditions in which all people can be healthy and thrive. We commit to doing our part to demonstrate and address the significant racial and ethnic inequities in health status and outcomes in our state. Our next course of action will be producing a policy paper focused on inequities and the COVID-19 pandemic, which will be released in Fall 2020 to guide policymakers in proven approaches to creating a more just society in light of the significant inequities the pandemic has highlighted.

We thank you for all that you do to help our state reach its potential, and we recommit to engaging in work that will make meaningful changes to improve health equity in South Carolina.