HHS head, Alex Azar, had it right in suggesting to CNN’s Jake Tapper that the disproportionate amount of COVID-19 infections and deaths in the U.S. are largely attributable to the declining health and susceptibility of many Americans. Azar’s words:
“Unfortunately, the American population is a very diverse… a population with significant unhealthy comorbidities… minority communities particularly at risk here because of significant underlying disease health disparities… an unfortunate legacy in our health care system that we certainly do need to address.” Alex Azar, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services
COVID-19 has ripped the scab off health inequity in the U.S., exposing highly variable levels of healthcare access. It’s a way of life, an existence for too many, in an environment that systematically promotes weakened immune resiliency, thus affecting the collective human condition.
This health (and economic) crisis will force a recalibration and rethinking of priorities. The critical question is before us: what should value-based disease prevention and health care now look like in service of health creation?
In the 50+ year history of integrative health, this is our moment to influence what comes next. Because…
In the face of COVID-19, and the virulent viruses sure to follow—with untold additional costs—we in the integrative health community have a critical role to play: specifically, the consistent promotion and teachings of robust immunity and resiliency.
